


The Tale of Two Sisters: Book One

by JustKateGaming



Category: My Time At Portia (Video Game), Supernatural
Genre: Death, Dimension Travel, F/M, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:53:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 95,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26454445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustKateGaming/pseuds/JustKateGaming
Summary: When two mysterious girls move into an old workshop in the countryside of Portia, strange things begins to happen. The girls must learn to work together as they uncover the truth about who they are and why their father sent them to live in Portia while dancing with their own emotions that entangle them with a few of the locals.
Relationships: Arlo/Builder (My Time At Portia), Arlo/Female Builder (My Time At Portia), Female Builder/Remington (My Time At Portia)
Kudos: 7





	1. The Town of Portia

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fanfic. It mostly based on the world of the video game, My Time at Portia with a smidge of Supernatural, though you'll never see characters like Sam or Dean, they may be mentioned from time to time. Everything else is made up though you'll hear Kate mention being in worlds based on Video games, comic/book series, tv, and movies. Kate and Juliet are OC's created by me.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As two sisters, Kate, and Juliet find themselves in a strange new world where they must learn to get along with each other while on a mission for their father. On the second day in Portia, the girls are met with challenges that will define their outcome based on how they chose to overcome them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to everyone who has been reading this fanfiction since I first started a few months ago. Here in December of 2020, I'm coming back to the first few chapters to freshen them up and give them a bit more life as I evolve as a writer. If you would like more up to date notifications on when chapters go live or when chapters get changed, follow me on Twitter @justkategaming where you'll also find chapter art created by me as well.

Kate hung herself over the side boat looking down at the seawater as the wind breezed through her hair. She and her sister Juliet were heading to a place she had never heard of or seen of until now. Though she’s been on many adventures in the past but none of them ever involved completing a mission for her father. This was going to be a new experience for her, especially with her sister tagging along. It was rare for father to send either of the two girls out on missions that didn’t involve reaping souls and learning lessons. She supposed this time was no different.

Juliet stood on the other side of the boat looking to the horizon as the harbor came into view. She was quiet, still, and lost in her own thoughts. The two girls hadn’t talked at all since they left home for this mission. The two of them never really got along at all even after all that's happened between them. Juliet didn’t want to be on this mission with her sister. She was grateful for things her sister has done for her up to this point but she still envied the relationship Kate had with their father. In the four years since Kate joined the family, she had been treated better than Juliet in the eighteen years she had grown up alongside her father.

The captain of the boat tried to break the silence between these two by making small talk but neither wanted to reply back. Politely, Kate answered.

“We’re coming up to Portia now, what do you plan on doing there, ruin diving?” the captain asked.

“Yeah, you could say something like that..” Kate lied. “So what are the people like in Portia?” she asked as she turned to look at him.

“Portia has the friendliest people you’ll ever meet!” The captain replied as he chuckled to himself.

Juliet and Kate's mission was something they hadn’t dealt with before. It was their duty to keep the timeline on track in Portia while they stayed there. So asking the captain questions about the town before arriving was beneficial. They needed to know as much as they could about this world before trying to pose as two builders, daughters of a former builder who once resided in Portia himself. They needed to make everyone believe they were just normal humans living out a normal day to day life in Portia.

There was a set of rules the Council had prepared for them before they left that they couldn’t break. The first being to never use magic in front of humans. There were no known documents of magic users in this world and using magic would make them stick out quickly. The second was to never tell anyone who you are, and why you are here. You can’t trust anyone. The third and final rule, most importantly, don’t do anything to mess the timeline up. To prevent this, their father gave them a magical book that allowed them to read into the future with every possibility, good or bad. Such a book could only be read by their family, so any unauthorized onlookers would only see blank pages.

Kate had made a rule for herself as well, don’t fall in love or get attached to anyone. It was a bad habit she had. The many adventures she had gone on, she found herself distracted by a love interest of some sorts and when it came time to leave, she would have to call it off, break theirs and her heart. But this was a mission and she wasn’t planning on coming back here once the mission was complete. There is no point in getting too attached to anyone anyway.

As the boat pulled into the harbor, Juliet began to gather her things, Kate, watching her sister, took it as a cue to do the same. She hadn’t brought much with her because she didn’t need a lot of things anymore. The only thing she really cared about was the journal her uncle, War gave her before leaving. He told her to write in it daily or as often as she could remember and keep track of the people and events in town. As the days go by, week by week, she would be able to keep an eye out of any noticeable changes to the timeline. He also knew she loved to draw too and encouraged her to add some drawings to the book, whether it be of the people or places for reference. He told her he would read it when she came home after the mission and hear her story.

With the boat finally parked, Kate jumped out quickly. She was ancy and didn’t want to linger any longer in case the captain wanted to try and make more small talk. Juliet followed by soon after with her bag in hand. Kate was a bit excited to be going on another adventure. It had been too long since her last one and pined for the thrill of it.

As the girls walked off the pier and into the harbor, the girls spotted an older gentleman. He was waiting for them patiently as they approached him. According to the briefing before the mission, this was Presley, an old friend of Death’s human persona, Maurice, though Kate doubts her father ever had any real friends.

”You must Presley,” Juliet said as the two girls stopped in front of him.

“Girls, good to see you both! Did you have a pleasant journey from...Barnarock, right? That's quite far.” Presley said pleasantly.

“Yeah,” Kate replied, she didn’t even know much about Barnarock or what it looked like. Even though the two girls just arrived through the portal in Barnarock Harbor, from what Kate did see there, it was just baron wasteland. There didn’t seem to be much there. 

Presley escorted the girls through the countryside to an old worn down shack just outside of town. “Here it is, your father’s workshop,” Boards were hanging from the sides, creaking in the wind and the lawn was overgrown from the years of being neglected. The girls looked over the workshop. Kate was quite impressed it was still standing at all while Juliet looked at it with disgust. 

“Looks Homey,” Kate commented 

Holding a book in his hand, Presley holds it out to Juliet. “This is your father’s handbook. It contained all the blueprint and the in and out of how the workshop runs. Take your time getting settled in today and tomorrow come see me at the Commerce Guild. It’s located in Peach Plaza as you first come into town for the workshop. As much as I’d like to give you two your builder’s license right now, you two will have to prove your worth through a couple of tests.”

“Alright, Thank you, Presley. We’ll be there tomorrow morning bright and early.” Juliet told him politely. 

Inside the shack, the girls found nothing but two small beds, one on each side of the rooms as if they were specially placed there just for them both. The rest of the room was empty, the floorboards were old and some of them were torn up. Juliet took the bed on the left-hand side, leaving Kate with the right side bed. Each girl dropped their bag on their bed as they both took in the room. This house was in need of much repair if they planned on living here for a while.

Thankfully Kate was smart enough to pack enough food for the two girls to last them a few days as they settled in. She wasn’t sure how long the trip to Portia was going to be like or how long it was going to take them to get there. Juliet was actually grateful her sister had made something to eat. It meant they didn’t have to travel into town their first night and they could just relax. Plus the very little currency they were given was all they had until they could make a steady income.

Kate tried to make small talk with her sister during dinner as they sat on the floor where there wasn’t a hole. “The countryside of Portia is beautiful don’t you think?” she asked Juliet.

Juliet wasn’t in much of a mood for conversation with her sister, so she continued to ignore her as she finished her meal.

After dinner, Juliet made her way over to her bed and read her book until she was ready for bed. Kate took the time to write in her journal about their journey to Portia. By the time she was done, Juliet was already passed out in bed with her book resting on her chest. Kate being the kind-hearted sister that she was, took the book from her sister and put it away, tucking Juliet in, and headed to bed herself. 

In the morning Juliet woke up early well before Kate. The sun itself hadn’t been up long but she had always been an early riser while Kate on the other hand loved to sleep in. All of her best dreams happened then.

“Wake up lazy bones, don’t make me have to roll you out of bed.” Juliet threatened her sister as she pulled the covers from on top of her. 

“Ah! It’s freezing in here! Alright, alright, I’m up….I’m up,” Kate said as she sat up quickly from the shock of the cold air hitting her skin. “Why are you always so mean to me?”

“If you had gone to bed on time last night. You would have got up on time and I wouldn’t have to be so mean,” Juliet replied to her sister.

Kate grumbled at her sister. She knew they had to meet with Presley this morning but why did it have to be so early. She wanted to dream about her next adventure after Portia.

Juliet was already dressed and ready to go, unlike Kate who had to quickly get dressed as her sister pushed her along, trying to rush her out the door. Kate hated it when she got too pushy with her. “Come on now, we have to be there in thirty minutes and you still don’t have your boots on!” she nagged.

“Just go without me,” Kate replied to her as she picked up her boots and began to untie her laces.

“You know I can’t, now get a move on! I’m going to head outside for some fresh air and wait for you there,” Juliet said as she placed her hand on the doorknob.  
“Yes your majesty,” Kate commented as her sister headed out the door.

Outside, the cool breeze was no different from the temperature of the house. The broken floorboards allowed the wind to easily sweep through the house and keep the two from getting a peaceful night's sleep. Kate finished tying her boots up and headed out the door behind her sister where they headed north to the western gate that led into town, right into Peach Plaza.

On their way into town, they met a tall older gentleman named Aadit. For having a deeper sounding voice, he spoke softly and gently. Kate could tell he was kind hearted and kept to himself.

“Good Morning Sir, how are you today, I’m Kate and this is my sister Juliet. We just moved into the old workshop out of town,” Kate said as they approached Aadit outside of town.

“Oh, you two are new in town as well?” Aadit said as he shook each of the girl's hands, “I just moved here a little while ago. Name's Aadit. I work up at the Tree not too far from here, I hope you enjoy Portia as much as I do.”

“Thanks, it was a pleasure meeting you Mr. Aadit,” Juliet said politely as she started making her way into town as Kate followed behind her.

“Same here, have a nice day.” Addit replied, giving them a wave before continuing his way into town as well.

The Commerce Guild was on the other side of the fountain that took up much of the center of the Plaza. The Guild seemed to be the central building with two small buildings attached to it, A and G Construction to the left and City Hall to the right. The girls walked up to the guild and proceeded in where they found Presley was inside waiting for them. He was pacing the floor in front of his desk as a boy about Kate and Juliet age watched from the receptionist desk.

“Girls! It’s so nice to see you two this morning. How are you settling in?” Presley asked as he rushed over to greet them the minute he spotted them.

“We’re doing well,” Both girls replied. They looked at each other. They hadn’t talked about who was going to lead most of the conversation. Both girls were used to being on their own and having to do everything alone. Though Juliet acted as if she was the eldest child, truth be told, they were both manifested by their father at the same time so there was no older or younger sister. They were just sisters. 

Presley began to explain the Commerce Guild to the girls, “ Let me introduce you to the Commerce Guild, We're the organization that orchestrates trade across the entire Free Cities region, this is the Portia branch. We're pretty busy throughout the year.In order for you two to be part of the Commerce Guild, you’ll each have to pass a few tests to prove you have what it takes to be a builder. It’s pretty simple really, the first test is for you each to make a set of Tools, a stone pickaxe and axe. Everyday essential tools for a builder like yourselves. After you have each crafted them, come see and I’ll inspect them and give you your next task should I deem you ready for it.”

“Thank you Presely, We’ll get right on it,” Juliet said politely as she grabbed her sister’s arm and began to drag out the door.

Outside, the plaza seemed to be getting quite busy. A group had formed in front of the western gate where an older gentleman and a young girl perched against the use of relics of the past. The girls were intrigued. They knew they had gone to a post-apocalyptic world but this wasn’t like any either had been to. Over 300 years after a war destroyed most of the world and these people were not in a rush to gain back the technological advancements that made life so much easier. Though as Kate thought about it, she could understand some of the toxicity of the technology back home in the world she came from.

The girls snuck past without being seen and made their way back to the workshop. Around the outside of the workshop was a bunch of fallen branches and stone. It was clear they were going to need to gather material by hand in order to make these tools. This wasn’t Kate’s first time had to do similar chores. She’s been to many worlds where she had to forge her own tools and weapons, this was second nature to her. Juliet on the other hand did not. She was used to being supplied with everything she ever needed. Kate was worried about her sister.

Juliet wasn’t happy with gathering her own material. She picked up a stone with disgust. It was dirty and gross in her mind. She didn’t want to make her own tools, she thought the whole idea was silly but she knew they had to stay true to the mission and continued on with her task.

“Hey, why don’t you continue to pick up just stone and I’ll get the wood for our tools? That way we can focus on one task at a time and be done together.” Kate suggested to her sister in hopes that she could help her along.

Juliet agreed. “Sure, we can do that.”

Kate picked up as much wood as she could, she knew the floor to the house could use some as well for the much-needed repair. She was going to make sure it was fixed before bed tonight, even if it took her all night to do so.

The two girls met back at the workshop in front of the worktable in the yard. They laid out the materials and began to work on the tools. Kate had no trouble crafting her tools while Juliet, on the other hand, tried frantically to keep up with her sister and watch her every step but she was failing to do so and was getting frustrated. Kate stopped to help her but Juliet refused her help. Kate proceeded to finish her tools and waited for her sister to finish hers. Juliet gave up in frustration and tossed her tools across the worktable.

Kate picked up her sister’s tools and handed them back to her sister. “Come on, Please let me show you. I’ll let you do every step but let me help you.” Juliet agreed but she was still letting her pride get in the way making it even more frustrating to help her. Kate tried her best to ignore Juliet's attitude and help her sister. After a few tries, Kate successfully walked her sister through her tool crafting. They both had tools ready to present to Presley. 

On their way back into town, they noticed the Plaza had quieted down a bit from earlier that morning when the crowd had taken over most of the area in front of the fountain by the gate into town. It was almost noon, and neither girl had eaten anything this morning and didn’t have much money to get anything to eat. Their stomach growled but they kept going. This wasn’t the first time they went without and won’t be the last. They both agreed once they had enough money, they would grab something to eat.

Back in the Commerce guild, Presley examined each of the girl's tools, looking over detail. When he had fully looked them over he handed them back to the girls. “Excellent quality girls! You can keep them, I just wanted to see what you could do. Now, for the second test, you’ll each need to make a stone furnace. You should be able to find the diagram at the assembly station in your father’s workshop.” Presley explained.

The two girls nodded to Presley as they turned around to head back to the workshop. On their way there they met a young girl named Emily who lived on the farm next door with her grandmother. She was passing by and had noticed the girls had recently moved in. She was sweet and cheerful and greeted them with a warm welcome.

“Hi there, I’m your next-door neighbor Emily, it’s so nice to have new people move into our town. You should drop by my ranch sometime. My grandma sells ingredients for food and seeds for farming, plus she makes the best pumpkin pies in town!” Emily said cheerfully.

“Oh, thank you,” Kate said nervously. “I’m Kate and this is my sister Juliet, we’re from Barnarock…” she replied.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Emily said with a smile.

“Yeah, it’s a pleasure to meet you too Emily. We’d love to stay and chat but unfortunately, we have something important to attend to for the Commerce Guild,” Juliet said trying to free them from this unpleasant cheerfulness.

“Oh of course, please don’t let me keep you, Have a great day!”

Emily walked on back to her farm. Kate and Juliet looked at each other and giggled.

“Well then, she was a little too cheerful for my taste,” Kate said to her sister.

“Yeah, it was a bit unpleasant,” Juliet replied.

“Shall we get to work then?” Kate said gesturing to the yard.

Juliet nodded and the two girls headed into the yard. The blueprint required wood and stone. The Stone needed to be carved into forges and then word formed into a box for water to cool down smelted ore. This time working together, they made the first one from the extra materials they had gathered earlier from making the tools, unfortunately, the need to gather a bit more for the second one. Juliet seemed a bit more comfortable with gathering the wood and stone now. She didn’t wince in disgust anymore. Kate was starting to enjoy her sister's presence and it was starting to feel like Juliet was feeling the same about her sister as well. With the completion of the second furnaces, the girls were ready to head back to the guild.

They greeted the receptionist at the desk of the Commerce Guild as they entered to meet with Presley.

“Hey, there, I’m Kate and this is my sister Juliet, we’re..” but Kate was cut off by the Receptionist

“Oh, I know who you two are, I’m Antoine, I’m the receptionist here so we’ll be seeing each other here, a lot.” Antoine giggled

Presley noticed the girls at the desk and rushed over to greet them with a plaque in hand.

“Excellent work girls! You pass! Here is your Builders License, Congratulations!” he said handing over the plaque.

“Oh, but we haven’t even shown you our furnaces yet,”

“Oh, if you’re anything like your father's, it is in excellent condition. Now you just need to take this over to the Mayor’s office next door and register your Workshop. After that, come back here and I’ll get you both started with commissions.”

The girls were starting to feel a little pushed around. It was getting tiring. They left the guild and to the Mayor’s office located to the left out the door of the Commerce Guild. For a small building, it was a big room. The room was l shaped, to the left was the Mayor and his desk. Straight headed, there were bookshelves and pictures that littered the walls. 

“Afternoon Mr. Mayor, we’re here to register our Workshop with the town!” Juliet said as she held out the license out to the Mayor. 

“Welcome, Welcome! You two must be the New Builders! I’m Gale, the mayor of this town. It’s truly wonderful to see young people getting involved with the telesis of our society. Very well then, what is the name of your workshop?” Gale said pleasantly, greeting them.

The two girls looked at each other, they hadn’t decided on a name. Not that they would get along with deciding on something they both would like. Kate jumped at the opportunity with an idea for a name. “Serendipity!” she shouted in excitement

“Serendipity!” she shouted in excitement.

“Serendipity, nice name!” the Mayor said with a smile on his face. He turned to the builder's license in Kate’s hand and signed it. Juliet looked at her sister in confusion on what just happened but she didn’t have much to say at this point, it was done. Serendipity was the name of their Workshop.

Before they left, Gale told the girls about the fireside meetings he holds every once and a while in front of the Commerce Guild Entrance, where he usually talks about events and projects that are in the town. He said the most important ones, he’ll send a letter out to everyone in town to attend.

The girls headed back to see Presley at the guild. Where he greeted them with excitement “You’re now a bonafide workshop owner, You’re father would be proud,” Presley said, showing how pleased he was with their hard work. Juliet and Kate both had a hard time believing their father would ever be really pleased with their work.

Presley explained that every day, commissions are posted here on the Commission board. Based on the speed and quality of the product, the guild ranks each workshop every week, listed in the guild. There are five workshops in Portia’s jurisdiction, including the girl's workshop. The higher the rating, they get, the higher the quality of the commission they could receive. He wasn’t worried. He had faith if they were anything like their father, then they would be the number one workshop in no time.

“Anyways, since this is your first commission, I’ve kept this one just for you two,” Presley said as he pulled out a paper from his pocket and proceeded to hand it to Juliet.

A man slightly taller than Kate and Juliet came over to them and proceeded to grab at the paper Persely was handing to Juliet. “Playing favorites are we?”

“Higgins! You already took one Today!” Presley said angrily at him.

“There are never too many commissions, Good day!” Higgins said as he left out the guild entrance. Kate was infuriated with this guy and was ready to go give a piece of her mind and fist too but her sister pulled on her arm suggesting he wasn’t worth it.

“That runt. He’s the owner of the current number one workshop. Brilliant businessman, but I don’t like the way he does things”

“I guess that just means we’ll have to show him who the new number one is around her right Jules!” Kate said with her fist clenched and determination in her eyes.

Juliet nodded with a smile on her face, it was the first time her sister had called her a nickname. She quite liked it.

“Well, I’m sorry girls, that was our last one today.” Presley began to explain when the door suddenly sprang open to the Commerce Guild.

The girls jumped into a defensive position naturally. They were trained to be prepared for a fight at any given moment, so when the sound of a door swinging open with such a force, they were ready for whatever came with it.

At the door, the girl noticed the lanky young man, no older than the girls in age entering the guild. His fiery red hair made him stand out and he seemed to be wearing some kind of uniform that made him seem like an important authority figure. “Hey, Pres! I have a job for ya!” he said at the door.

Kate walked up to the young man and looked him in the eye, unimpressed by his entrance, and began to rant. “I don’t know who you are Red but how dare you slam a door open like that! You scare my sister and me half to death!”

“Oh...sorry, You two must be the new builders in town, I’m Arlo, the leader of the Civil Corps,” Arlo said, apologizing as he introduced himself.

“What is it, Arlo?” Presley asked eager to find out about the commission Arlo burst in to tell him about.

“We’re looking to build a bridge to Amber Island,” Arlos explained.

“So the Mayor finally put up the money? Well, These two here are up to the challenge.” Presley said in excitement.

“Yeah, he figured that place could be a real tourist attraction with the haunted cave and all?” Arlo explained.

“Haunted Cave?” Kate said as her sister and she exchanged glances.

“It’s not really haunted, it’s more of a bedtime story meant to scare children.” Arlo laughed.

Kate still wasn’t impressed by Arlo and his presents. She was put off by him and how he White Knighted her by showing up with a sudden commission. She hated White Knights and didn’t need anyone to save her. Presley continued to explain to the girls about what they needed for this project but Kate was still focused on Arlo who stood nearby. Thankfully Juliet was still paying attention.

“For a project this big, you’ll probably want to dive into the abandoned ruins to gather materials. We have one such ruin in Portia located at the bottom of the Church tower. You’ll find an abundance of ore and parts useful for making machines to help you along the way.” Presley explained 

Arlo chimed in. “Though the ruins are free of monsters, they can be quite dangerous if you’re not watching where you step. One wrong move and you could find yourself in the bottom of a deep hole,” he explained.

“Good to know, thank you, Arlo,” Juliet said politely as she smiled at him.

The girls left the guild with Arlo following right behind them. Kate was sure he was trying to follow them but as he took a left out the guild Kate continued to watch him until he was out of sight before heading home with Juliet.

“Well, he’s quite handsome isn’t he?” Juliet said nudging her elbow into her sister’s side.

“No, he’s not bad looking at all but I don’t like him one bit. There is something about his arrogance I don’t like about him. I’m going to keep my eye on him for now on” Kate replied.

“Oh come one, he’s totally your kind of guy,” Juliet commented.

“We’re not here for any kind of hookups, We’re here on a mission,” Kate said as she began to get agitated by her sister.

“Yeah, I suppose you're right but it's unlike you not to want to have a fling with one of the locals,” Juliet said as she pushed the gate to the workshop open.

“My past relationships weren’t flings, they were meaningful relationships I couldn't keep because I couldn’t stay to be with them and they couldn’t follow me back home now could they?” Kate said as she walked into the yard and headed to the assembly station to look at her father’s handbook for a bridge blueprint.

“Okay, okay, don’t get so defensive. So what does the handbook say.” Juliet asked her sister.

“Looks like we need to make a few machines just to make some of these parts. This is going to be one tough job. At least we don't have a short deadline.” Kate explained.

“Right, let's organize and prioritize the jobs we want to get done around the house and for the commission. We need to fix the floor before bed. I’ve counted that we’ll need thirty-six wood to fix it. We’ll need to head into the mine tomorrow after a night's rest and gather ore and parts. We’ll need plenty of wood for the furnaces as well. If we split up the tasks we could get this done quickly, however, if we go mining in the ruin together, we could carry and gather more between the two of us. What do you think?” Juliet conversed with her sister.

“Hmmm, let's split up for now, and down the road, we’ll dive down together. I’m sure we’ll need more ore and old parts for future projects.” Kate said trying to make sense to herself.

“Right okay, so after the floor is fixed, you want to summon us a pizza and finally eat something?” Juliet asked with a smile on her face and her hand together begging her sister

“Alright but only because we haven’t eaten all day and you know Pizza is my favorite,” Kate said begrudgingly. “But only this one time. You know we had to reduce our power and seal most of it away to seem human. I can’t do this all the time.”

The girls spent the rest of the evening gathering wood and retreating to the house where they fixed the floor. Juliet smashed her thumb a few times trying to hammer them into place. When she was done, Kate used some of her magic to heal her sister’s thumb. Though she was already exhausted from the day she mustered up enough energy to summon a pizza for the two of them to enjoy. It was a family favorite, Pepperoni Pizza. Very basic but even father quite enjoyed a slice or two from time to time.

Juliet passed out after eating while Kate spent her night writing in her Journal. Her mind kept wandering back to Arlo. She was determined she was going to prove to him that she was better than him one way or another but how. She had a limit to her power, with the seal, could only do some basic tricks. In her current state, she wasn’t physically equipped to take him on, she could tell. He was certainly the strongest fighter in the town. Kate closed her journal, rolled over in her bed, and eventually fell asleep. Tomorrow was coming and she was no use to her sister, tired.


	2. The People of Portia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting a letter from the Mayor to see him, Kate and Juliet are tasked with meeting the local shop owners in the town but along the way something unexpected happens that causes Kate to be a little more problematic for Arlo then he wanted.

It was the break of dawn when Arlo got up like he did every Wednesday and Friday morning. The first thing he did was get up out of bed, throw on his uniform, and head out the door. He had no time for breakfast and there was no point in taking a shower, he was going to meet with Paulie, Sam, and Remington on their usual jog through the town and across the countryside of Portia. What would be the point of getting clean if he was going to get dirty again. This had been his normal routine for a few years. Remington knocked on his friend and captain’s door as Arlo finished tying his favorite blue bandanna that sported The Flying Pigs logo on it.

“Arlo, are you ready yet? Sam is outside waiting for us,” Remington shouted as he stood on the other side of the door. 

“Yeah, I’ll be right there, go ahead without me, I’ll catch up,” Arlo shouted back as he began to tie the laces of his boots.

Arlo was a bit off this morning as his mind kept wandering back to yesterday afternoon when he met the two new builders in town, particularly the brown-haired one. There was something special about her and he couldn’t put it into words. Was it her looks? She was very attractive. Was it how she approached him? She was a bit standoff but very confident in herself. Maybe a bit too strong-minded for his liking. Whatever it was she didn’t seem too impressed by his entrance to the Commerce Guild. Her first impression of him wasn’t his ideal situation nevertheless. 

Arlo left his bedroom and headed towards the main door of the Civil Corp where he met with Remington and Sam. They had been waiting patiently for him by the Flying Pigs statue, eager and ready to go for their run.

“Come on slowpoke! Paulie is waiting for us down in Central Plaza. We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry up!” Sam said to Arlo as he approached them.

“Alright then, let's get a move on,” Arlo replied as he took a quick moment to stretch before running down the hill to the plaza with the team.

“You seem a little off today Arlo, everything alright?” Remington inquired “Usually we have to wait on Sam and not you.”

“Yeah...I’m fine. I just had an interesting run-in with the new builders yesterday, it’s kinda thrown me a bit.” Arlo replied as they started to jog their way down the hill.

“Oh, they finally moved into town? I haven’t met them yet, what are they like?” Remington asked

“Well, one sister is very reserved and quiet but very polite...while the other sister is very forward and loud. Though to be fair, my first interaction with them didn’t leave the best impression.” Arlo explained as they took a turn down towards the stairs that lead them into the Central Plaza.

“What happened?” Sam inquired

“Well, you know the old door to the Commerce Guild and how it likes to stick from time to time? I gave it a bit of a good push and it flew open. Gave the whole Commerce Guild a good scare. Next thing I knew, I had the pretty brown-haired one staring me down.” he explained as they began jogging down the stairs.  
“Pretty brown-haired one?” Remington questioned

“Oh? Does Arlo have a crush on one of the new builders?” Sam said with a grin on her face.

“No! It’s not like that. I may find her attractive but that doesn’t mean I have a crush on her, we just met. Besides, she’s nowhere near my type.” Arlo said to Sam who always seemed to be inquiring about his love life.

“Ah, there you three are!” Paulie said as the three Civil Corps members reached the front of Paulie's store, Best Brothers Furniture. “ You three ready for the manliest run in Portia?!”

“Always!” Arlo replied as he took one more moment to stretch his legs.

“You betcha!” Sam replied with determination.

“Ready when you are!” Remington replied as he too took a moment to stretch out his bad knee.

“To the riverbank, we go then hahaha!” Paulie said cheerfully as he leads the group up through the main street and into the Peach Plaza

Kate was sick of her sister waking her up so early. Why couldn’t she sleep in? Nothing exciting happens in the morning. She was nibbling on pizza crust leftover from last night’s pizza as she finished tying her boots. Juliet was rushing her as normal to get going. She didn’t want Higgings stealing the best commissions again plus one of them had to go ruin diving while the other cut down trees.

Kate got up and headed towards the door, leaving her sister as she finished the last bite of her pizza crust. Outside was a beautiful spring morning, the breeze grazed across the grass like waves in the ocean. The girls head up towards the town. Juliet led the way as Kate followed behind, lost in her own head. They entered the plaza and made their way towards the Commerce Guild.

Paulie and the Civil Corps Team made their way through Main Street and entered Peach Plaza. Arlo who was the closest behind Paulie caught a glimpse of Kate who was still tagging along behind her sister as they made their way into the Commerce Guild. He almost stopped in his tracks but he regained focus as the door to the guild closed behind her.

“You okay Arlo? You look like you just saw a ghost,” Remington asked as he placed his hand on Arlo’s shoulder as they stopped for a quick rest in front of the Commerce Guild and waited for Sam to catch up to them.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just noticed the new builders heading into the Commerce Guild, that's all,” Arlo replied

“You sure seem to be worked up about those two new builders, are you sure you’re okay?” Remington asked, trying to reassure his friend that he could trust him. 

“I’m fine,” Alro replied, “ Here comes Sam now, let's get going.”

Juliet looked over the commissions on the board. She was trying to decide between two commissions, one was really simple but had a low payout while the other was a bit more complex with a much larger payout. Kate was getting impatient. She wasn’t in the mood to wait around and wait for her sister to decide on a commission. 

“Pick one already!” Kate whined as waited for her sister.

“If you give me a minute, I was going to ask you which one you thought would be better for us to do,” Juliet replied

“Well, which one do we have the most time for?” Kate asked

“This one,” Juliet said as she showed her sister the commission

“Then take that one,” Kate said as she went to grab the commission.

“But it has the least payout,” Juliet said, pushing her sister away

“We still have that bridge to build. The payout for that is much larger than both of those commissions combined. We still have a lot to do today.” Kate said as she pushed against her sister.

“Alright then, the low payout it is,” Juliet said as she pulled the commission down from the board. 

“Can we go now?” Kate asked as she started to walk away making a b line for the main door.

“Yeah, we need to go see the Mayor in his office. He sent a letter this morning asking us to stop by when we have a minute.” Juliet replied while folding the commission up and placing it into her bag.

“Ugh, like we have a minute to stop and talk to the Mayor” Kate signed as she stood at the door waiting for her sister to follow. 

The two girls made their way over to City hall where they found the Mayor at his desk, as usual, going over his daily paperwork that seemed to be much higher than the amount of work he had on his desk yesterday.

“Mr. Mayor, We got your letter this morning that you wanted to see us,” Juliet said to the Mayor as the two girls made their way to his desk.

“Oh right, you should get to know some of the people living in this town for your own benefit. I've made a list of store owners within the city walls, you should go introduce yourself,” Gale said as he handed Juliet a list of names.

“Oh, of course, thank you, Mr Mayor, we’ll get on that right way,” Juliet said while taking the list from Gale.

“Have a great day Mr. Mayor,” Kate said as she waved to him, making her way eagerly to the door to leave.

“Good day to you both as well,” Gale said, waving to them as they left.

Juliet followed behind her sister. Kate was in a rush to get things done. She was upset the mayor had added another task for them to complete. “So, who does the Mayor want us to meet?” she asks.

“Well, there seem to be quite a few people on this list. Let’s start with two located right here in Peach Plaza, Albert from A and G Construction, and Django of the Roundtable Restaurant.” Juliet said as she read through the list.

A and G Construction wasn’t far from City hall, it was located on the opposite side of the Commerce Guild so they headed over and made their way into the office. It was a small room compared to the Mayor’s big office on the other end. There were two desks, one at the front of the room and another in the back that was more for drawing than anything. Two young men occupied the room. A tall blond that sat in the back and your average Joe businessman in the front. 

“Good morning gentlemen, would one of you be Albert by chance? The Mayor has asked us to come by and introduce ourselves to the local shop owners. I’m Juliet and this is my sister, Kate, we’re the new builders in town.” Juliet said, bowing politely as she greeted Albert.

“Ah yes, that would be me, welcome, if you're in need of house or workshop upgrades, this is the place to be. All you need to do is select a plan from the catalog book in our company,” Albert explained as he handed Juliet a gift of marble material for the workshop.

“Oh, thank you very much. We look forward to the idea of upgrading that run-down shack.” Juliet said with delight, She hated that dirty old place.

“No problem, all of our designs are made right here in the office by our very own designer, Gust,” Albert said as he pointed to the tall blond who had gotten up and was making his way towards them.

“You're the new Builders. I'm Gust, I'd love to stop and chat, tea, cake, and all, but I'm busy, so, good day.” Gust said as he made his way towards the door to leave.

“Well,” Kate said as she watched Gust pass by her, making his way out the door.

“Sorry about that, he’s not much of a people person. That’s why I take care of the business end of things and he designs.” Albert explained.

“Well, it was a pleasure meeting you both. We still have quite a few more shop owners to meet today. We look forward to working with you in the future.” Juliet said as she bowed goodbye and turned away to leave.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Albert said as he waved goodbye to the two girls.

From there the girls headed towards the Round Table Restaurant. This seemed like the only restaurant in town but to be fair, Portia wasn’t that big of a town in the first place. Inside the building has a big round table in the center of the room, followed by several booths set up around it for a more private dining experience. At the head of the restaurant was a bar where a tall older gentleman was cleaning glasses. 

“Good morning, you must be Django, the Mayor asked us to introduce ourselves to the local store owners. I’m Juliet and this is my sister, Kate, we’re the new builders in town.” Juliet said as she introduced them.

“Oh ho ho, new builders! Always nice to see young folks movin' in! If you need refreshments, I'm your man! Try this, it's on me this time!” Django said as he handed them both a bottle of fresh orange juice.

“Thank you, Mr. Django,” Kate said with delight in her eyes as she grabbed for the bottle of orange juice.

“Please just call me Django,” Django said, smiling brightly at them.

Just then a girl in a yellow dress came from the back room and walked over to the girls.“You're those new girls! You just inherited that workshop outside of town right? Oh sorry, where are my manners, I'm Sonia, I’m a waitress here at the Round Table, I look forward to serving you both in the future.” Sonia said as she introduced herself to the girls. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Sonia, I’m Juliet and this is my sister Kate.” Juliet politely replied. 

“Yeah, a pleasure to meet you both, but we really must be going, we have a lot of people to meet still and commissions to start,” Kate said as she started making her way out of the restaurant.

Django and Sonia waved goodbye to the girls as Kate dragged her sister behind her out the door. Django chuckled to himself at the sight of the sisters.

“Slow down!” Juliet shouted at her sister “There is no need to rush, we’ll get everything done. I promise.”

“You say that, but before you know it, the day will be over and we’ll have nothing done. Who’s next?” Kate asked

“Well, it looks like we should head through Main Street towards Central Plaza. The first stop is Alice’s Flower Shop and a few doors down is Martha’s Bakery. Why don’t you take the lead on the next two this time?” Juliet asked her sister.

”Alright, let's go then.” Kate replied as she marched down the street to the next shop.

Alice’s Flower shop was only a few meters away from The Round Table. It was a small stand with only a few selections of flowers. A small girl stood by watering plants. She was no older than Kate and Juliet. She was quiet and mouse-like.

“Excuse me, Miss, you wouldn’t happen to be Alice would you? The Mayor asked us to introduce ourselves to the local shop owners in town. I’m Kate and this is my sister, Juliet, We’re the new builders that just moved into town.”

She was startled by the girls because she hadn’t noticed them until now. “Oh! Why yes... I’m Alice, the owner of this flower shop. It’s a pleasure to meet you both. Here take this.” she said as she handed Kate a bouquet of Asteria flowers in a shy and timid way.

“Oh, thank you, it's a pleasure meeting you too Alice,” Kate said as she accepted the bouquet.

The girls waved goodbye to Alice as they made their way up the street to the next shop, Martha’s Bakery. Matha was outside tending to the row of fresh baked goods. Kate’s eyes light up at the sight and smell of fresh bread.

“Like what you see?” Martha said as she watched Kate eye up the fresh bread she had just placed.

“Oh yes, sorry where are my manners, I”m Kate and this is my sister Juliet, we are the new builders that just moved into town. The Mayor asked up to introduce ourselves in town “Kate said as she bowed politely to Martha.

“Oh, so you two are the new builders' everyone keeps talking about in town. I’m Martha, I own the Bakery here in town. Please take these with you.” Martha said as she handed the girls three loaves of bread.

“Thank you very much!” Kate said as she accepted the loaves of bread in delight.

“Thank you, Martha, it was a pleasure meeting you. We best be going now.” Juliet said as she pulled on Kate’s arm who was still drooling over the freshly baked bread.

The girl waved goodbye to Martha and made their way into the Central Plaza. Kate had safely placed the bread into her bag and was joyfully skipping every other step. Juliet grabbed the list and looked it over to see where they should go next. “Looks like we’ll find Mars, Carol, and Paulie in Central Plaza. The closest to us is Best Brothers Furniture owned by Paulie,” she explained.

The two girls walked over to the furniture store but found no one there. “Huh, maybe he slept in,” Kate said looking around

“Oh are you girls looking for Paulie.” a soft motherly voice said from next to them. “He’s out jogging with the Civil Corps right now but he should be back soon. Is there something I can help you with?”

An older woman stood in front of the two shops next door with a broom in her hand. She had a very motherly presence about her and wore a shawl around her shoulders that reminded Kate of the ones you usually would find your grandmother wearing.

“Oh, we’re just looking to introduce ourselves. The Mayor asked us to go around and meet the local shop owners. I’m Kate and this is my sister Juilet, we’re the new builders that just moved into town.” Kate explained as walked over to the women.

“Welcome to our little town, hope you have a wonderful time here. I’m Carol, my store sells clothing and costumes, so if you ever need to upgrade your armor or a dress for a date, come see me!” Carol said with a smile “Now, you look like a couple of nice kids, so I'm going to give you something for free, like a leg up. Don't tell my husband though!”

Carlo handed Juliet two rems of fiber cloth and a few paints. “Thank you,” Juliet said as she accepted the gifts.

Kate noticed an older gentleman standing behind Carol at the shop next to her’s. “You must be Mars yes?” Kate asked as she made her way over to him. “I’m Kate and that over there is my sister Juilet, we are the new builders that moved into town recently. The Mayor asked us to introduce ourselves to the local shop owners.”

“Why yes I am, Nice to have you. If you need tools or weapons, you can come to my shop. It's got the best selection around these parts. Now, you two look like nice kids, so I'm gonna give you these for free, as a leg up. Don't tell my wife though!” he said as he handed her two stone bricks.

Kate giggled as she took the bricks from Mars. It seems like Mars and Carol have an interesting relationship as a married couple who like to keep secrets from each other. “Thank you, Mars, it was a pleasure meeting you.”

Kate suddenly felt the weight of someone’s eyes watching her. She turned around, looking to see who it was, and saw Arlo on the other side of the Plaza, he was making his way back into town from his jog with the team. She glared back at him. Arlo had noticed her turning to look at him and quickly turned away, hoping she wouldn’t notice him watching her. 

Juliet noticed a tall man with a muscular built body walking up the furniture store and pulled on her sister’s sleeve to get her attention. “Hey, I think Paulie is back, we should introduce ourselves, we only have a few more store owners left to meet,” she told Kate.

“Yeah, I’ll be right behind you,” Kate said as she slowly pulled her attention away from Arlo who was making his way towards the stairs that lead up by the Civil Corps Building.

“Excuse me, sir, You must be Paulie, I’m Juliet and this here is my sister Kate, We’re the new builders that moved into town recently. The Mayor asked us to introduce ourselves to the local store owners.” Juliet said as she introduced herself and Kate.

“Welcome! Smallish builders! I sell furniture here in my store, so if you have any need for manly decors, you know where to find me. And since I'm so manly, I'm going to give you this to get you started.” Paulie said as he handed her a small bundle of hardwood.

Kate chuckled to herself as she watched Paulie hand the wood to her sister. In her head, she was making an inappropriate joke about him giving away his ‘hardwood’.

“It’s a pleasure to met you, Paulie,” Kate said as she smiled

They were interrupted by a sudden loud whinny of a horse in stress. Kate turned around to where she thought she heard it. Midway on the stairs, Arlo was trying to calm his horse down. It was acting wild and Arlo couldn’t keep it calm. If Arlo wasn’t careful, the horse could crush him with its hooves. Kate quickly rushed over to the horse, pushing Arlo out of the way and taking the reins. She calmly hushed the horse and spoke to it in a calm, soft voice as she pulled down on the reins, gilding in down back onto all four. She pulled the horse's head to her chest and soothed it till it was calmed down.

Arlo was amazed and stunned by what he had just seen. He’s never seen anyone calm a horse down with ease like that. It was quite impressive, especially for a builder. 

“Thank you...Kate was it?” Arlo asked, trying to remember her name.

“Yeah, and it was nothing. Just try to be more careful, okay. It’s a beautiful horse, I hate to see it dirty its hooves when it crushes you one day because you were too careless.” Kate replied in a very sassy tone as she handed the reins back to Arlo.

Arlo sighed as he took back the reins. “Look, about yesterday...I’m sorry I scared you. That door is just really old and likes to stick sometimes,” he explained.

“Funny, I’ve opened that door several times now and not once as it stuck for me, maybe it was an operator error,” Kate said as she got snarky with him.

“That's enough from you, Kate. It's time for you to leave the poor boy alone and get going,” Juliet said, scolding her sister. “It was a pleasure seeing you again Arlo, please forgive my sister. She means well but she can have an odd way of showing it.”

“It's fine,” Arlo said with a smile as he patted his horse. “Thanks again for calming Spacer down.”

Juliet made her way up the stairs towards the Clinic located next to the Civil Corps Building. Kate stormed off behind her as Arlo watched the two girls walk away until they took the corner and moved out of sight. He was more confused than he was this morning. How could she be so nice to him and yet still cold at the same time? Did he really rub her the wrong way?

Kate grumbled behind her sister as she followed along. Juliet wasn’t too happy with Kate either. She stopped midway up and turned to look at her sister.

“Look, I don’t know how many times you expect him to apologize to you for yesterday but you need to grow up and be nice to him. He’s the leader of the Civil Corps. The Civil Corps seems to serve and protect the town. Kinda like the local law but much more than that and I don’t need you getting into trouble with the head guy because he rubbed you the wrong way.” Juliet said, scolding her sister like she was a child.

“Well excuse me,” Kate said as she walked away heading up the ramp ahead of her sister. 

“Hey! I’m not done with you.” Juliet shouted.

“Well, I am! Isn’t there a doctor up here we need to meet?” Kate replied

“Yeah, his name is Dr. Xu, and his pupil Nurse Phyllis,” Juliet explained 

“Alright, let's go!” Kate said marching onward

The Clinic was up at the top of the hill, right next to the Civil Corps. Kate looked over at the Civil Corps building before heading into the Clinic with Juliet. It was a small room with a few privacy screens placed next to beds. There was a lone desk in the back. A blond woman stood in the back working on what looked like some kind of medicine while closer to the door a man stood looking over charts.

“Excuse me, are you, Dr. Xu? I’m Kate and this is my sister Juliet, we’re the new builders that moved here recently. The Mayor asked us to introduce ourselves to the local shop owners.” Kate said as she peered over the charts.

Xu pulled the charts from his face to look at Kate.“Hey, Welcome to Portia. I'm pretty much the only doctor around here, so come see me when you need to heal up or buy health items. Here, have these as a welcome gift.” he said, handed Kate three freshly picked herbs.

“Oh, thank you,” Kate said as she looked at herbs confused about what she was going to do with them. Juliet took the herbs from her sister and put them into her bag. She knew more about medicine than Kate did though, it wasn’t like Kate didn’t know, she just let everyone believe she didn’t.

The woman in the back made her way over to greet the girls. “You two must be the new builders I’ve been hearing about. I’m Phyllis, I’m a student of Dr. Xu. If you ever need acupuncture, feel free to stop by, It won’t hurt, I promise.” Phyllis said with a smile.

“Thanks, I'll consider the offer, maybe,” Kate said as she squirmed at the thought of needles.

“Thank you both, it was a pleasure meeting you both but it's almost noon and we really need to start heading back to the workshop,” Juliet said as she headed towards the door.

“Of course, have a great rest of the day!” Dr. Xu said as he a Phyllis smiled and waved goodbye

Kate and Juliet waved back and walked out of the Clinic. Outside Arlo was leading Spacer into the stable located next to the Clinic. Juliet nudged her sister trying to encourage her sister to apologize to him but instead, Kate headed down the hill towards Peach Plaza. Was she ever going to get them to get along?

Juliet ran after her sister “Hey, we still have one more store owner to meet, Sophie, Emily’s grandmother.” she yelled.

“That’s just across from the workshop. Homestretch here we go!” Kate said cheerfully skipping down the ramps that lead into the town park.

The girls made their way through the Plaza and out the gate into the countryside. They cut through the wheat field and up to the door of Sophie’s Ranch. They entered the building that looked almost as beat up as the shack they called home. Inside sat a little old lady in a room filled with produce and dairy products. 

“Hello ma’am, are you Sophie? The Mayor asked us to meet all the local shop owners in town. We’re the new builders that moved in next door to you. I’m Juliet and this here is my sister, Kate”

“Hello, nice to meet you both. If you have any need for food items or seeds, you can come right on by, you hear! Let me give you something as a welcome gift.” she said as she handed both girls a bottle of fresh milk. 

“Thank you, ma’am, we appreciate it,” Juliet said with a kind smile on her face.

The girls headed back to the workshop so they could begin to split up tasks between the two. On their way there they ran into Emily. She was heading home to do more chores and stopped to ask the girls for a favor. She wanted them to build a planter box and try it out for her in their free time. She had the blueprint already and was willing to give them the seeds and fertilizer as well. The girls agreed but were sure exactly when they would have enough free time. 

Back home, the girls split the chores. Kate was in charge of ruin diving. She needed to gather old parts, power stone, copper, and tin ore. Juliet was in charge of wood. She needed to cut down as many small trees and bushes as she could. These stone tools wouldn’t break the much larger trees until they could upgrade them too much stronger tools made of bronze or iron.

Kate headed to the ruins located not too far from the house on the western side of town. She was greeted there by a tall green hair guy who was patrolling the area around the ruins. 

“What's up! You must be one of the new Builders I heard about! I'm Remington, a member of the Civil Corps. If you've got any troubles, just let me know and I'll try to make it go away.” Remington said with a big smile on his face.

“Oh, thank you, Remington, was it? I usually can handle myself but I appreciate the offer.” Kate replied.

“So I heard, Alro told me you two had quite the introduction in the Commerce Guild,” Remington said as he chuckled to himself.

“That's one way of putting it,” Kate said as she rolled her eyes.

“Heading into the ruins for the first time?” Remington asked her.

“Yeah,” Kate replied

“Alrighty, let me explain then. All the ruins in the Alliance of Free Cities are regulated by the Civil Corps. To enter, you’ll need to pay a weekly maintenance fee, but we’ll give you a 60% discount the first time, 80 gols.” he explained before continuing on.

“When you enter, I’ll give you a jetpack and scanner, very handy ancient relics. Mining for resources becomes a lot easier when you have these equipped. When you come out, we’ll need them back, since they’re very rare. This one besides us is an Abandoned Ruin, no monsters or robots in there, just resources and relics like power stone. Anything you find in the ruins is yours to keep unless they're ancient weapons, then we’re supposed to hand them over to the Church for destruction. Okay, I’m done, have fun and be safe in there!” Remington explained.

“Right, thank you, Remington. I appreciate the crash course,” Kate said as she handed him 80 gols.

Kate headed into the ruin and headed deep into the floor below. She hoped her sister was having an easier time than her which she doubted because Juliet wasn’t one for getting dirty. She was the full embodiment of being a princess.

Juliet was indeed having a hard time. She would chop down as much wood as she could and haul it back to the workshop making multiple trips between the yard and the area around them. It was getting later in the day and the sun was making its way towards the west. It would be sunset soon.

Julie noticed a tall man green-haired man making his way through on horseback, patrolling along the wall of the town. As he approached her, he hopped down from his horse to greet her.

“You must be the other builder, I just met your sister back at the ruins, I'm Remington, a member of the Civil Corps. If you've got any troubles, just let me know and I'll try to make it go away,” Remington said with a kind smile.

Juliet blushed. She found him to be very handsome and very kind. Something she had never seen in a man before. “I...I’m Juliet,” she stuttered.

“It’s pleasure to meet you, Juliet,” Remington replied

“No...the pleasure is mine,” Juliet said as she gazed into his eye awkwardly 

Uncomfortably Remington hoped back onto his horse and bid farewell to Juliet. She was upset with herself. She realized she had made that whole situation uncomfortable. Angry at herself, she began to chop at a nearby bush furiously. By the time she was done, there wasn’t much left of the bush and none of it was usable for crafting. Thankfully it was very much still usable for fuel. She had exhausted herself and when she finally got all the wood back to the workshop, she headed inside, resting on her bed until she fell asleep.

Every Wednesday night, Arlo would meet Nora, the missionary girl from the Church, and tell her stories of his adventures. They met at the water well behind the Clinic. He would get there early and wait for her to show up. Tonight, while he waited, he thought of Kate. She was amazingly brave putting herself in danger to calm down Spacer. He was growing a bit of admiration towards her though he still wasn’t sure why she was still so cold towards him. Nora made her way over to Arlo who was still lost in thought and didn’t notice her.

“Evening Arlo,” Nora said smiling at him, trying to get his attention.

“Oh, Evening Nora, sorry, my mind must have wandered off for a moment,” Arlo said as he turned to look at Nora

“Oh, that's alright, where did you wander off to? Thinking about your next adventure?” Nora asked cheerfully intrigued

“Unfortunately no, Have you met the new builders in town, the ones the Mayor mentioned?” Arlo asked with an inquisitive look on his face.

“No, I can’t say I have, Why?” Nora replied, trying to think back on the last few days.

“Let’s just say, they’re quite the peculiar pair,” Arlo told Nora as he crossed his arms.

“How so?” Nora asked.

“Well, first off, for being twin sisters, they have quite different personalities,” Arlo said as he thought about it.

“Strange, but why would that concern you?” Nora asked.

“The brunette one, Kate, calmed down Spacer when he went wild out of nowhere in Central Plaza, I’m still not sure what caused him to go wild like that,” Arlo explained.

“Oh, that sounds noble of her,” Nora said, sounding slightly disappointed. 

“Yeah, she was amazing! She came rushing over and pushed me out of the way, grabbing a hold of him and before I knew it, he was calm and quiet again. She had him nuzzled up to her as she talked calmly to him. I’ve never seen someone so skilled with a horse before.” Arlo explained with excitement in his voice.

“Wow, she sounds really amazing,” Nora replied, trying to smile to hide her jealousy.

“She doesn’t seem to like me though,” Arlo sighed.

“Oh, why’s that?” Nora asked curiously.

“You know the door to the Commerce Guild and how it sticks from time to time?” Arlo asked her

“You mean the one Presley got fixed last week?” Nora asked, remembering seeing them fix the door.

“Yeah..what?” Arlo replied, in shock to learn the door had been fixed. “Well, that would explain why it flung open like it did when I tried to forcefully open it.”

“Oh my,” Nora said with a surprised look on her face.

“Scared the whole Commerce Guild, including the new builders…” Arlo explained now feeling embarrassed by his actions.

“Oh, I can see how she would be upset with you,” Nora commented.

“Yeah, not a great first impression. I apologized but she didn’t seem too warm to accept it and has been cold to me ever since,” Arlo explained as sighed once more.

“I’m sure she’ll warm up to you eventually, and if she doesn't, well it’s her loss then,” Nora said cheerfully.

The rest of the night Arlo told Nora about his latest adventure in the Collapsed Wasteland and the new discoveries he had made this week around Portia. Before they knew it, it was midnight. Nora headed home as Arlo watched her make her way down the hill safely. As soon as she was out of sight, Arlo made his way to the Civil Corps where he would make his way to bed.

Kate came home pretty late. Her bag was overfilled with goods from the ruins. When she walked into the yard she could see the wood her sister collected but not Juliet's insight. Kate started smelting the ore in the furnaces and put the old parts and power stones away. She also found old data discs in the ruins as well and thought about having the research center she saw earlier in the Central Plaza check them out.

Kate made her into the house where she found her sister passed out. She tucked her into bed, wished her goodnight, and crawled into bed herself. Kate took a moment to write in her journal about her day. When finished, she closed the journal and placed it back into her bag. Then rolling over in her bed and falling asleep.


	3. The Church and The Research Center

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet and Kate learn more about the town of Portia and the feud between the Research Center and The Church of the Light as well as meeting a few more residents in town.

The Church of the Light has always opposed the work of the Research Center. The two sides rarely ever got along and were always fighting with each other over the use of relics. Unlike the researchers, who believe that humanity can benefit from the study and use of relics, the church was wary of relics and believed nothing good could come from the relics of the past.

Juliet woke up at the crack of dawn to take a shower in what she could barely call a shower. It was a small room with a sink, toilet, and a rust shower head. The water was inconsistent in temperature but always leaning more towards the colder side. After taking what she would describe as the worst shower in her lifetime. she got ready for the day as she quickly got dressed, hoping it would warm her back up. This morning she decided to let her sister sleep a little longer. It was a special day for both of them after all. Juliet grabbed a loaf of bread and a bottle of orange juice. This was probably the only meal she will eat today. 

Kate rolled out of bed and onto the floor next to her sister. She rested her head on her shoulder and mumbled. “Happy Birthday Sunshine.”

“Good Morning sleepy head, Happy Birthday to you too,” Juliet said as she cringed at the smell of her sister’s morning breath. “Why don’t you get yourself cleaned up and ready for the day.”

“Aye Aye Captain,” Kate said she slowly got to her feet and proceeded to her bag for a few bathroom essentials.

Kate came out to the yard still half awake, walking slowly over to the worktable. They still had the commission from yesterday to craft and deliver. It was easy to make but they lacked all the materials.

“Oh, while you were helping Arlo yesterday with his horse, Paulie asked us to make him some copper blades,” Juliet told her sister as she added more fuel to the furnaces.

“Fantastic,” Kate replied sarcastically. 

The two girls were interrupted when a man called out to them on the other side of the fence. He was short and very similar in looks to the captain on the boat that brought them to Portia. The only difference was his outfit was purple and not aqua

“Excuse me, you're the new builders, right? I’m Qiwa, I’m a fisherman here in Portia. Yesterday a big fish broke my fishing rod, could you make me a new one?” Qiwa asked.

The girls looked at each other, it would be more work but it seemed simple enough. Kate looked at Qiwa and gave a good nod. “We’d be happy to make you a new fishing rod,” she said, smiling at him politely.

The girls spent most of the morning building the necessary machines required for making the bridge as well as more furnaces to help compensate for the amount of ore needed to be made in order to meet the demand. They made two each of the civil cutter and the grinder. The civil cutter would allow them to cut the wood into boards and marble into planks. The grinder rolled ore into piping and copper blades. In fact, they had to make the grinder first in order to make the civil cutter.

While Kate was working on the commissions, Juliet went off to collect some wild cocoons so they could spin the silk into the fishing line. When she came back, her sister was just about done with all the commissions and just needed the cocoons. She quickly spun the silk and lined the fishing rod.

The girls packed up their commissions and headed into town. Kate was eager to visit the Research Center today, she wanted to find out more about the data discs she found yesterday. As they reached the entrance to the plaza, they could see the Church was holding. Unfortunately, that was where the girls needed to go. Their commission was for Nora, the missionary girls for the church.

Kate walked up to Nora. “Miss Nora? I have your commission completed from the Commerce Guild.” Kate said as she held out three talismans.

“Oh, you must be one of the new builders, it's a pleasure to meet you,” Nora said with a cheer expression. She pulled out a coin purse and handed Kate her payment and took the talismans. 

Minster Lee noticed the two talking to Nora and turned to introduce himself. “You two must be the new Builders the Mayor told me about! I'm Minister Lee of the Church of the Light. It's a pleasure to meet you both!” he said as he eyed up the data discs sticking out of Kate’s bag. “Oh my! It seems you found some Data Discs!”

“You know what this is?” Kate asked

“Of course, this is what the ancients used to store information on their technologies back in the Age of Corruption. It is highly dangerous because there's a chance this little item here can contain the blueprint for world destruction.” Minister Lee explained.

“It can’t be that bad, I’m sure they are useful information on there,” Kate replied

“Haha, you're what? Eighteen? Nineteen? The Age of Darkness is probably just another fairy tale story to you, right?” Minister Lee asked rhetorically.

“We’re twenty-two, sir,” Juliet replied.

“When I was young, my great-grandma told me firsthand accounts about the time before Peach, the time when folks lived in the ruins underground. She went days without food, everyone fought everyone else over the most basic of things, people were considered old when they hit thirty. And it was always, always dark. Imagine that, that's what the end of the world looked like, and that was created by the very same dark technologies stored inside this little disk. Anyhow, I'm not trying to scare you, but it's the reality of your Builder business. All the dangerous technology is spread around the world, waiting to be stumbled upon, and in the case of the Research Center and cities like Vega 5, expedited in their recovery. Then calamity will strike again. So, it's a priority of the Church to seek out and destroy all the Data Discs and other dangerous relics. With help from ruin divers such as yourself, of course.” Minister LEe explained 

“So if I give these to you, what do I get in return?” Kate inquired as she held up one disc.

“The Church will reward you handsomely for your efforts. We have in our possession a vast amount of green technology learned through the ages. Wait a minute, I know that look, the Church isn't against the use of good technology that can bring telesis to our society, we're only against dangerous technology.” Minister Lee explained.

“What kind of green technology?” Juliet asked

“What kind of green technology?” Juliet asked

“Mostly special seeds, you'll see. We can share what we have with you as you bring us more disks. You do know how to plant crops, right?” Minster Lee asked.

“Yes...we do,” Kate replied puzzled by his question. What did he take her for? The town idiot?

“Okay, great! Here, I'll take that disk and give you some seeds to get you started. When you discover more disks, bring them to us and we'll give you more seeds. You'll be doing this world a great service.” Minister Lee said as he eagerly grabbed for the disc and handed them three bags of cotton seeds.

Kate wasn’t impressed by this trade but couldn’t argue with him, She had the feeling of someone watching her again. Arlo was across the plaza watching her again. He was on his usual patrol through town and had made his way into the plaza. Arlo noticed the two girls talking to the church and stood nearby to watch. 

Kate turned away and started to walk down Main Street towards Central Plaza to deliver the copper blades Pualie requested. Along the way, she ran into Qiwa who was walking along Main Street as well. She handed him the new fishing rod and in return, he gave her some gols and a container for fishing bait.

Juliet caught up with her sister. She had stopped to talk to Arlo while her sister decided to walk away instead. “You know, he doesn’t seem like he’s that bad of a guy once you get to know him,” she tells her sister.

“The fisherman?” Kate asked confused 

“No, Arlo,” Juliet replied

“This again?’ Kate sighed as she rolled her eyes, annoyed with this conversation already.

“You can’t run away from him every time you see him. You’re going to have to talk to him eventually,” Juliet ranted to her sister.

“Let's get moving, I want to get to the Research center before it closes. We just need to drop this commission off to Paulie.” Kate said as she started to make her way to the Paulie’s store

“Alright, have it your way.” Juliet sighed, following behind her sister.

The two girls made their way to Paulie's store and delivered the copper blades. He was most impressed by the work that he paid them graciously. All the work the girls had done this morning was paying off well. They would be able to live a little more comfortably in the house soon.

They slowly made their way over to the research center. The bell to the school rang. It was located next to the Research Center. The school children came rushing out but stopped when they noticed the two new builders walking by. 

A young blond girl walked up to Kate and looked innocently up to her. “Hello! I just want to say now that you're here, we can't play hide and seek in that haunted house anymore, so it's all your fault!”

“Uh, sorry?” Kate said as she looked puzzled by the small girl.

“Where are you from?” asked a small auburn-haired girl.

“Barnarock,” Juliet replied

Just then another girl appeared and introduced herself and the other two girls. “Please forgive my two sisters, they can be a handful at times. Are you the new Builders? I'm Polly and this is Dolly and Molly, it's nice to see other people try to bring about the telesis of this world...or at least that's what the Mayor likes to say, haha. Nice to meet you!”

“It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Polly,” Kate replied as she smiled pleasantly at Polly.

“Did you just move here? Never seen you before I’m Toby.” Toby said from out of nowhere as he popped into the crowd of children..

“I'm Jack, nice to meet you! I hope you have a good time in town!” Jack said as he too joined in.

“Alright kids, stop crowding the new builders and let them get in their way.” said a woman who was making her way out of the schoolhouse. “Sorry, We don't get new people moving all the way out here too often, so the kids get excited when they meet new people! I'm Lucy, I am a teacher here at the Portia School.”

“Hello, I’m Juliet and this is my sister Kate,” Juliet said politely.

“Nice to meet you both, I’d love to stay and chat but I need to go have a chat with Martha about Toby’s behavior in class,” Lucy explains as she waves goodbye and makes her way over to Martha’s barkery.

“Alrighty, we better be heading off to the Research Center anyway,” Kate said as she turned to look at Juliet.

They waved goodbye to Lucy and the school children as they headed toward the entrance of the Research center. It was a small tower on the edge of town. Inside there were books and bookshelves everywhere. The center of the room was a platform where the researchers pieced together machinery. Two women ran the research center. Merlin, an older middle-aged woman, and Petra, Merlin's young assistant.

Petra walked over to the girls to greet them. “Hello, you're the new Builders, right? Nice to meet you, I'm Petra.”

“Why yes, we are, it’s nice to meet you Petra. I have some questions about these discs I found in the ruins yesterday.” Kate asked as she held up a Data Disc.

“Look what we have here, Data Discs. Do you want to know? This is actually related to how you can discover new diagrams for your Workshop Handbook. We rely on relic components from the past to build a lot of our current constructs. Many relics in this world are beyond our current understanding and you won't be able to build them, not even in a hundred years! That's where this Data Disc comes in. These Data Discs are located all around the world. They hold lots of useful information on the old relics. If you find any, give them to us and we'll help you research these relics. The Research Center will produce the diagrams that you need to build them. Anyway, just remember that if you find any Data Discs, bring them to me, 'kay?”Petra explained.

“Sounds like a good deal to me,” Kate said with a grin on her face.

The other woman, Merlin, wasn’t in much of a mood for talking. She continued to bury her nose in her work so Kate and Juliet didn’t stick around to talk to her. Instead, they left and made their way to the Commerce Guild where they planned on getting a new commission that they could do alongside the building of the bridge.

Arlo was making his way back to the Civil Corps building for his usual afternoon training. It was Thursday so Toby would be joining him for punching lessons. Arlo was still lost in thought about the two new builders. Juliet, the more reserved sister, had no problem talking to him yet and Kate seemed to continue to be cold and distant to him. 

Toby was running up the hill in excitement. He wanted to tell Arlo all about the two new builders he just met on his way out of class. “Whoa there Toby, where's the fire?” Arlo said as the young boy rushed into the building.

“Arlo, have you seen the two new builders in town!” Toby said in excitement.

“I have,” Arlo replied as he smiled, reminiscing about yesterday’s events.

“Did you see the brunette girl, she's so pretty. She’s like a princess from a fairytale” Toby said dancing around the room,

Arlo chuckled. “She may look like one but she definitely doesn’t act like one.” 

The two spent the afternoon sparring with the training dummy until dinner time, to where they stopped and Arlo sent Toby off home as he made his own way down to the Round Table Restaurant where he would meet up with Sam and Remington.

Inside the restaurant, Arlo pulled up to the bar and ordered a glass Duvos Winter Punch as he waited for the other members of his team to get there. It wouldn’t take them much longer to pull in behind him but the refreshing taste of the Duvos Punch helped take the edge off and ease his mind. 

“Oh, drinking without me already I see,” Remington said as he placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and sat down next to him. 

“Nah, I just needed something to get my mind off that builder,” Arlo said as he went to take another sip.

“She's still causing you trouble,” Remington asked

“Not really, she just ignoring me,” Arlo replied

“Suppose that better but It’s not like you to let something like that bother you,” Remington comments as he raised his brow at Arlo.

“I don’t know, there's just something about her I can’t grasp my head around. She’s unique. Yesterday, while I was out on patrol in town with Spacer, he got spooked and started going wild. I couldn’t get him to calm down. Before I knew it, she had swooped in and had him calmed down. ” Arlo said as he looked at his glass thinking about the brunette builder.

“Who are we talking about?” Sam said as she strolled up to the two boys.

“The new builders, specifically the brunette one,” Remington replied

“Oh, this again? I only caught the tail end but she doesn’t sound as horrible as you make her out to be” Sam said as she raised her brow.

“You should have been there to hear what she said after, She was more sympathetic to Spacer than me,” Arlo replied before he took his glass and swallowed the last gulp, stood up, and made his way to the round table in the room.

Remington and Sam followed behind, taking the hint that Arlo didn’t want to talk about the new builder anymore tonight. After enjoying a quick meal, the team spent the rest of the night with more drinks and several games of darts.

After finishing building the necessary machines required for the bridge project, Kate went down by the river to explore the area. It was late and Juliet was most likely going to bed so Kate the opportunity to get to know the area better. Along with her patch, she came across Gust resting along the river bank with a frail-looking redheaded girl.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to walk upon you, I hope I’m not interrupting,” Kate said 

“Hello there,” the girl commented “No, no, don't worry, just keep it low. This guy sleeps like a rock. I’m Ginger, you’re one of the new builders from Barnarock right? What’s it like there?” 

“Nice to meet you, Ginger, I’m Kate. Well, it's hot and dry, there aren't too many resources around. It was a hard life, not like here in Portia.” Kate said, trying to make up something that sounded like it would be about Barnarock.

“Ah, I'm sorry to hear that. I've read about it in a book before, but I can't really grasp it. I wish I could go there and many other places.” Ginger said cheerfully.

“Why don’t you go?” Kate asked confused

“My condition doesn't allow me to travel much, but once I get better, I will.” Ginger said sadly.

“Oh, that unfortunate, I hope you get well soon,” Kate said sorrowfully.

“You two are so loud! Now I’m wide awake,” Gust said as he sat up looking at the two girls.

“I’m sorry, we're disturbing you?” Kate said sarcastically 

“It's getting late anyway, we should head back,” Gust said as he started to walk away with Ginger following behind him, She turned to Kate quickly and waved goodbye. Kate waved back to her, heading back home right afterward.


	4. Unexplained Emotions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Choosing to take her sister's advice, Kate seeks out a friendship with Arlo, but will everything play out smoothly or will disaster strike and cause more problems between the two.

The next couple of days Juliet and Kate put all their time into working in the workshop on making the bridge. Friday morning, Dr. Xu stopped by to check in with the girls because he felt it was important for himself to make sure his new patients were familiar with him.

Juliet and Kate looked at Xu from within the yard as he approached them over the fence. “Good morning girls. I just wanted to stop by to see how you two are settling in. I heard you two are from Barnorock. There’s a lot more humidity here in Portia then there. Have you two gotten used to it yet?’ he asked

“The weather is fine, it doesn’t bother us one bit,” Juliet replied.

“Oh, that's alright then, but just in case, here’s a recipe for a local stew that is very healthy and helps with the humidity. Just milk, salmon, and salt make the Creamy Salmon Stew.” Xu explained as he held out a recipe card

Kate walked over to Xu, taking the recipe and looking at it. “Hmmm...I do love Salmon,” she commented.

“Thank Dr. Xu. We’ll keep that in mind. If that's all, we really must get back to work,” Juliet told him.

Xu felt a bit unwelcomed by Juliet so he just nodded and walked away as Kate walked back towards her sister. 

“You didn’t have to be rude to him. He was just trying to be nice.” Kate nagged.

“We don’t need a nosy doctor getting into our business. It’s fine to pick up supplies from the clinic but should something happen to either of us, we can’t have Dr. Xu or Phyllis check us out. We risk them finding out we’re not human.” Juliet explained.

Kate let out a big sigh. “Yes, I understand,” she replied.

The Civil Corps ran by not too far after the doctor’s visit on their morning run. Arlo was distracted by the sight of Kate and almost tripped over a stone in the road but quickly caught his balance and trudged onward. Kate wasn’t impressed but was thankful he didn’t fall, she didn’t want him to make a fool of himself in front of her again. 

After all the hard work they put in, they were able to afford to upgrade their tools to bronze which made things a lot easier when chopping down trees because it meant they could now chop into much larger trees. Kate was also able to get enough data discs saved up from diving in the ruins to give to Petra for research. This was exciting to her because it meant that they would be able to advance the machines and tools in the future.

Saturday Kate crafted some wooden swords for her and Juliet. She was really enjoying the aspect of crafting, she didn’t realize she had made one too many swords and had to figure out what to do with the third one. Juliet suggested for her to give it to Arlo as an apology gift. She wasn’t too happy with the idea but her sister was right. She needed to start acting friendlier towards Arlo for the sake of the mission. She also finished making the Planter box Emily had asked them to make a few days ago, placing it in the yard and planted some wheat seeds Emily had given them to use. She spread some fertilizer on it to help it grow and walked away from it, leaving it alone to grow.

Kate left the yard and made her way through the town, walking up the hill to the Civil Corps Building mid-afternoon. As she entered the building, Arlo was in the midst of training whaling on his dummy. She stood by the door and watched him from afar until he noticed her standing there.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you there, have you been there long?” Arlo asked as she stopped and swung a towel around his neck

“It’s fine, and no, I was just admiring your fighting style,” Kate said as a slight blush brushed across her face.

“Oh...thanks, was there something you needed?” Arlo asked as he too blushed at her comment.

“I just came to apologize for my behavior the past couple of days towards you. I made this practice sword as an apology gift and thought you might like it,” Kate said as she held out the wooden sword to him.

Arlo took the wooden sword from her hands, gave it a quick examination, stepped back, and gave it a quick swing. “It's really nice, thank you. I can’t wait to try it out later. I really appreciate the gift and the apology” he said as he gave her a friendly smile.

“I’m glad you like it. I hope you get a lot of use out of it.” Kate said as she 

“Hey, if you’re not too busy, you care for a spar?” Arlo asked hoping she would say yes.

Kate contemplated it. She knew Arlo was much stronger than her in this current state but she could tell he was really into the idea of sparring with her and for some reason unknown to her, she didn’t want to disappoint him. “Alright, but I don’t think I’ll be as great of an opponent as you would prefer,” she told him.

Arlo smiled as he patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry about that, just give it your best,” he told her.

Arlo took a few steps back and readied himself for a fight. Kate took a deep breath and adjusted herself into a fighting stance. Fists up, she gave him a nod indicating she was ready to spar. She waited for him to make the first move, watching his movement as he lunged towards her. She stepped back and dodged his punch

“Not bad, you can definitely dodge well,” Arlo complimented her as he stepped back into the same fighting position.

“Thanks, it took me several months of training to learn how to dodge properly,” Kate said as she watched Arlo try to psych her with a false swing.

“Oh yeah, you train for anything in particular?” Arlo asked while watching to see if she would try to take a swing at him.

“You know how it is living in a world like this especially in a town like this so close to the dangers of the unknown,” Kate said making up something that would sound like she knew what she was talking about.

“True, one can never be too careful when traveling between cities,” Arlo replied.

Arlo stepped forward and lunged forward again trying to take another swing at Kate. He thought he had broken her focus with the conversation but she dodged again. Arlo stepped back again and began to taunt her. “Come on now, you can’t just stand around all day and dodge my every punch. Bring on your best punch.”

Kate knew he was trying to edge her on and it was working. Arlo was right, it wouldn’t be much of a fight if she did just continue to dodge. She would eventually get too tired to dodge and he would be able to land a punch and bring her down. Kate watched for an opening, there weren’t too many. The timing was key. She used her speed to move quickly towards him and lunged for a strike.

It looked like it was going to land but Arlo grabbed her wrist, swung her around like a dancer, and pushed her arm up against her back. He had her pinned up against his chest. His warm breath rolled down her neck that was moist from sweat. It sent a chill down her spine. What did he think he was doing? She had only one choice but to fight dirty if she wanted to get out of this.

“Not bad, a little slow but at least your form was good,” Arlo said into her ear.

“You're not too bad yourself,” Kate said, trying to distract him from her next move.

Kate slowly lifted her leg and ready herself to kick her ankle into this crouch. She thought she was being stealthy about it but he noticed, loosed his grip, and let her go. She stumbled forward. 

“Well then,” Arlo said as he adjusted his bandanna and got back into a fighting stance. “Shall we continue?”

Kate got back into her stance as well and nodded. “Ready when you are.” She wasn’t going to let him get away with what he just did. It was time for her to get serious with him. 

Kate ran towards him as he wasn’t expecting it and she managed to get a few hits in, however, she wasn’t as fast as though she was and Arlo blocked every punch she threw at him. She tried to move quickly out of the way before he could come back with a counter strike but it was too late, he was able to make a move and clipper her across the chin.

Kate stumbled backward, putting her in an awkward stance. Blood started to pool in her mouth from a cut within. Arlo didn’t give her any time to react and swung at her again, landing a punch to her stomach that sent her flying backward onto the floor.

Arlo walked over to her and held his hand out, offering to help her up but she pushed his hand out of the way and proceeded to get up on her own. She was a bit wobbly as she started to make her way towards the door. 

Arlo reached out for her, trying to help but Kate pushed him away. “You should really take a moment to rest...I’m sorry...I shouldn’t have thrown that hard of a punch.”

Swallowing the pooling blood in her mouth Kate replied “I’ll be fine...I need to head home...my sister will start worrying about me...”

Arlo didn’t want to let Kate leave in the state she was in but she wasn’t giving him much of a choice. “At least stop by Dr. Xu Clinic and have yourself checked out,” 

Arlo’s words were lost to the void as Kate had already made her way out the door and almost to the plaza. She was gaining most of her regular movement and healing quicker than she expected. Even with all these restraints on her, the one thing she could still do is regenerate.

Kate made her way into the yard. Juliet was busy fueling the furnaces to notice her right away. When she finally looked up and noticed, she saw Kate messed up and badly beaten. Juliet rushed over to her and swung her arm under her sister, trying to help her into the house.

“What happened to you? I thought you were going to see Arlo?” Juliet asked

“I did,” Kate Replied

“Then how did you get the living shit beat out of you?” Juliet asked, puzzled by how a simple apology could go wrong.

“It’s not that bad,” Kate said as she winced at the pain from her stomach. “Arlo asked me to spar with him. Things got really heated and I got too cocky.” 

“For fuck sakes Kate, I told you to make nice, not get into fistfights with the guy,” Juliet said as she opened the front door and walked her sister in. 

“It was a friendly fistfight,” Kate said as she smirked.

“Well you’re friendly fistfight landed you an early night’s rest. You can’t heal your way out of this one. Arlo has already seen you with that shiner on your chin. Can’t risk blowing our cover for this one.” she said as she laid her sister onto her bed

“It’s too late, my body is already doing it on its own,” Kate said as she rolled onto her side

Juliet let out a big sigh. “How are we supposed to explain this when Arlo asks why you healed so easily?” she asked Kate.

“We’ll figure out something,” Kate replied.

Juliet rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. “I’m gonna get you some ice for those bruises, don’t try to get up,” she said, turning towards the door.

“Don’t plan on it,” Kate replied as she closed her eyes and tried to relax.

Arlo spent most of the evening worrying about Kate. He couldn’t understand what had gotten over him. For someone he wanted to make a good impression on, he really fucked up and instead, he felt like he pushed her farther away than before. Arlo headed over to the Clinic next door before closing to see if Kate had made her way over there but sadly neither Dr. Xu nor Phyllis said they saw her this afternoon. 

Arlo headed back to the Civil Corps building and headed to his room. He was embarrassed by the way he was acting. He barely knew this girl and yet she had this weird hold on him. He got himself undressed and ready for bed but he spent the next few hours unable to sleep, thinking about whether or not Kate was alright.

The next morning Kate got up pretty early. Juliet wasn’t even up yet herself. She grabbed her boots and snuck out of the house to the yard. The mess she got into yesterday afternoon put them behind a bit and she wasn’t going to let Juliet down by not making up for it. She began to work on the bridge. By the time Juliet woke up and made her way out of the house, Kate had the two bridge pieces complete, unfortunately, she needed to head into the ruins to get more ore for the bridge.

“Well, you’ve been working hard this morning I see,” Juliet said as she made her way out of the house and into the yard.

“Yeah...I’m sorry for last night, I should have been here helping you build this bridge and not sparring with Arlo,” Kate said, apologetically. 

“We’ll manage, are you feeling better today?” Juliet asked her sister.

“I’m almost completely healed,” Kate said as she gave her sister a big smile

Juliet began to help her sister prepare the last bridge piece with the materials they already had. Kate got herself ready to go mining. Juliet offered to go with her but Kate refused and said she wanted alone time in the ruins, plus who was going to attend to the furnaces.

Kate made her way to the abandoned ruin, taking her time to enjoy the late morning breeze. As she reached the front of the ruins, the church bells rang, signifying it was noon. She went to step inside and instantly planted herself, face-first into something in front of her. It was Arlo, he was making his way out of the ruins after gathering some power stones for the town. They had collided as Kate made her way into the ruin. 

“You should really be careful when entering the abandoned ruins. The Civil Corps had to make a lot of rescues in the past.” Arlo explained to Kate as he clutched her shoulders, trying to prevent her from falling.

Kate had her arms up against Arlo’s chest and she looked up at him in shock, her cheeks blushed brightly. “Arlo,” she whispered. 

“I’m glad to see you’re doing better today, I was worried about you,” Arlo said as the two locked eyes for a moment.

Kate pushed herself away from Arlo. All she could reply to him was “Yeah, thanks” and started to walk away into the ruins. Arlo turned to watch her. He wanted to say something more but he couldn’t get himself to speak. 

Later that evening, Kate returned with more ore and power stones. The bridge was almost done, Juliet was just waiting on a few more bricks. They needed to get ready for the Fireside Meeting the Mayor had asked them to attend. The two decided that it was just best to get cleaned up and ready for the Fireside instead of waiting for the bricks. They would most likely not be done until after the meeting.

At the fireside meeting only a small handful of the townspeople had attended, one of them, being Higgins. The Mayor mentioned a recent infestation of Pan Bats and how he encouraged people to stay away from them. They may look cute but they are quite dangerous. He had the Civil Corps Investigating the situation. He then mentioned the start of the bridge project and how there were builders already on the job. Higgins was upset to hear he wasn’t asked to build the bridge. Finally, he introduced the girls to the town as new residents and asked everyone to give them a warm welcome. 

After the meeting, Kate and Juliet headed home before anyone could strike up a conversation with them. It was already getting late, but Kate convinced Juliet that they could finish the bridge and talk to Antonie in the morning on their way to get a commission. 

The first task was to get the bridge finished and installed. The girls pieced together the last leg of the bridge body and got the pieces ready to move down to Amber Island. They placed the pieces onto canvas tarps and slid them down to the river. They took each piece one at a time and laid them into place. After securing each part into place and making sure the bridge was stable, they gave each other a pat on the back and headed back home.

In the morning the girls woke up early and headed out to the yard. The mailbox had a few letters in it, one being from the Tree Farm up the road. They needed 5 wooden boards. It was a pretty easy task, they had some boards already made up leftover from the planter box they made a few days ago for Emily.

They talked to Antoine at the Commerce guild about the completion of the bridge and he handed them the payment for the job. The girls decided tonight they would celebrate with a meal at the Round Table but first, they needed to head the Tree Farm and deliver the wooden boards they asked for.

At The Tree Farm, the two girls meet Dawa who introduced himself as the oldest of seven brothers. He said it was very easy to mistake each brother and the only way you could tell each apart was by the color of each brother's outfit. He thanked the girls for the boards and called for his assistant, Aadit. The older gentleman the girls had met their second day in Portia.

With the afternoon off, the girls decided to go into the ruins together and gather a large amount of ore before going to dinner. They figured with the completion of the bridge, it was just a matter of time until a new project would come up and they would need to smelt down more bars and gather more parts so why not do it now.

They headed home before dinner to put their finds away and clean up for dinner. When both of the girls were ready, they made their way into town and into the Round Table. There they found Remington and Sam at the bar having a few drinks. Sam got up and made her way over to them. 

“Hey there, you two must be the new builders I’ve been hearing so much about, I’m Sam, I’m a member of the Civil Corps,” Sam said with a smile.

“A pleasure to meet you, Sam, I’m Kate and this is my sister Juliet,” Kate said as she noticed her sister's gaze had been fixed on Remington who was taking awkward sips of his drink.

“Nice to meet you both, I hope you’re enjoying your time in our little town,” Sam said pleasantly to them.

“Yes, most of the town seems very friendly. The work has been good too,” Kate said as she nudged her sister in the side. 

“Oh yes, it's been most pleasant,” Juliet said as she snapped back into the conversation. 

“Well, I won’t keep you, Remington and I were just about to go over some Civil Corps business,” Sam said as she turned to walk away

“Oh, is Arlo not joining you today?” Kate asked as she noticed he wasn’t anywhere to be seen in the restaurant. 

“Unfortunately not tonight, he’s usually here but he had something important to do,” Sam explained.

“Oh, how unfortunate,” Kate sighed

“Is there something you wanted to see him about?” Sam inquired

“Oh no, I was just curious, that's all. Have a good rest of your evening.” Kate smiled as she started to walk away.

“Thanks, you too,” Sam said as she waved goodbye. 

Juliet and Kate took a seat at an empty booth in the back and waited for Sonia to come by for their order. They ordered a few dishes and enjoyed the meal making small talk about how it was nice to eat a big meal like this finally after being there for only a week.

At the bar, Remington and Sam sat talking about the two builders.

“So you finally got to meet the new builder for yourself, what do you think?” Remington asked

“They seem pleasant enough but I don’t quite understand what Arlo means when she’s unique. Maybe I’m just not seeing it,” Sam said with a heavy sigh.

“You should keep your nose clean and out of Arlo’s love life,” Remington said with a stern look at his friend.

“There’s no harm in inquiring, plus it’s not like he’s shown any interest in Nora, poor girl meets him two nights a week at that well and he doesn’t even notice her pining over him,” Sam claimed

“It’s not our place,” Remington replied.

Sam left the conversation there but she wasn’t happy with the lack of support from her friend and colleague.


	5. The Knight and The Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything Kate does lately seems to have a negative effect as she tries to form and bond with her sister and a friendship with the town's Civil Corps Caption, Arlo.

The next day was a very slow day for the girls. The only thing of any interest was the opening of a newly abandoned ruin Arlo had been exploring the last few days and the fireside meeting the Mayor asked the girls to attend. After a little discussion, the two girls decided to go exploring in the newly abandoned ruin located at the top of the town next to the Civil Corps building. 

As the girls made their way up the hill, Juliet questioned Kate about last night. “You seemed upset last night when you found out Arlo wasn’t going to be there, were you hoping to see him last night?” she commented.

“Not really, no. I haven’t spoken to him since I ran into him at the ruins. I don’t know what I would have said to him anyway.” Kate answered

“Do you like him?” Juliet inquired

“What? No! I’m just taking your advice and trying to be friendly with him,” Kate said nervously as her cheeks blushed.

“Are you sure? Your face says otherwise” Juliet asked

“We’ve been over this Jules, I’m not looking for a relationship. We’re here on a mission. Speaking of which, how is the current timeline?” Kate questioned her sister, trying to derail the conversation. 

“Everything seems to be doing well,” Juliet said as she placed gols into the collection box at the entrance of the ruin.

“Good, let's stay on a task then, no more distractions,” Kate said as they headed into the ruins.

At the town meeting, the mayor addressed the completion of the bridge and how he was looking forward to moving into creating the Haunted Cave. He also addressed the concerns of the townspeople who were upset by items being stolen from their homes. The Mayor assured the town that there was an investigation being led by Arlo into the theft around town and had complete faith he would solve the case. 

The next morning, the wheat the girls were growing from Emily was ready for harvest. In the mail was a letter from the Mayor who asked the girls to see him about a commission he had lined up just for them. They walked over to the farm and found Emily in the field. She was very impressed by the results of the planter boxes, she asked the two girls to make her three. Juliet was already two steps ahead and had them all ready back home and told Emily she'd drop them off later. Kate was quite impressed with her sister. She was starting to get the hang of this builder business. 

The two girls made their way to the Commerce Guild for a daily commission. On the board Kate saw one for Arlo and instantly grabbed for it, He was in need of three bronze bars. Kate was already running out the door with the commission before Juliet could say anything. She shook her and smiled. She followed her sister out the door and through the Plaza.

“What about the Mayor?!” Juliet shouted at her sister. 

Kate stopped and turned to her sister, slowly making her way back. They headed into the Mayor’s office, as usual, he was at his desk. The two girls made their way over to him.

“Thanks for coming, I've been really busy lately trying to figure out who the town thief is.”

“Right, we heard about that last night at last night’s fireside. You have Arlo leading the investigating, right?”

“We have never seen anything like it! It's strange, he's not stealing anything essential, just random trinkets. The fools Huss and Tuss show up once in a while, but they're more interested in big money items. We'll capture him for sure. We're kind folks here, but we'll still uphold our laws.  
Anyway, enough about the thief, I asked you to come because I want to further develop the cave on Amber Island. That cave used to lead to a ruin, but due to an accident, the entrance was closed. This was some forty years ago. Since then, there have been various rumors of it being haunted, which is nonsense.  
But! I think it's about time we used it in our favor! The Haunted Cave of Portia, got a nice ring to it, doesn't it? There used to be a power generator in there somewhere, I'm commissioning you to fix it up and give it some juice. Arlo tells me we'll need to install a Removable Battery! So go do that. Then I'll get one of the Hulu brothers to get that place runnin'. Ah, this will be a fine tourist attraction!” the Mayor explained. 

Gale handed Juliet a blueprint for the removable battery and sent them off. Kate was eager to get to the workshop anyway, there were still plenty of bronze bars stored away from the last project. The thing was, she still didn’t know what to say to him. Hell, he’s probably forgotten about the whole thing already, she hoped. He hadn’t, in fact, he spent the last few days burying himself in his work trying to forget about the fact he asked this girl he didn’t know too well into sparring with him and pushed her too far past her limits.

Kate ran through town looking for Arlo to deliver the commission to him. Juliet stayed home to start work on the battery. Kate found Arlo doing his rounds in the Central Plaza, he seemed out of place more than usual. She walked over to him, trying to compose herself and think of something to say.

“I..er, Arlo, I finished your commission,” Kate said nervously, trying to pull the three bronze bars out of her bag to hand to him.

“Oh...right, thanks. I appreciate it,” Arlo said as she handed the three bronze bars over to him.

“Hey...about the other day..” Kate started to say but Arlo stopped her mid-sentence and began to speak himself.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to spar with me. I took advantage of how much weaker you are to me when I shouldn’t have, please accept my apology.”  
Arlo said as he gazed into her eyes.

“It’s fine, a little humility is needed from time to time but I accept your apology,” Kate said as she pulled away from his gaze.

“Thank you,” Arlo replied as he smiled at her. It meant a lot to him to hear Kate accept his apology.

“How about when I get a bit stronger, you and I have a rematch, deal?” Kate asked  
Arlo chuckled as he replied. “Alright, but until then, why don’t you come by in the morning a few days a week and I’ll let you train alongside me?” he replied.

Flashbacks of Kate’s past relationships started to haunt her. They would all start out the same, innocent, just friends, hanging out but as they got closer to her, they fell in love and asked her to stay there and be with them. “I...I can’t,” she said as she pulled away and started to walk away.

“Why not? Did I say something to offend you?” Arlo said as he grabbed her wrist, trying to pull her back

“No...that's not it...I just can’t explain it,” Kate said as she tried to pull away. 

Arlo gave in and let Kate go. Whatever it was, she wasn’t going to tell him. He was starting to feel like every time he took a step forward, trying to get to know her, she pushed him ten steps back.

Walking away from Arlo, Mars stopped Kate for a moment and asked if she could do him a favor. There was rain in the forecast and he needed to make more umbrellas for the shop however he didn’t have the necessary sea urchin spines he needed to complete them. Mars couldn’t leave the shop and needed someone to run out by the river to retrieve them. Kate accepted, turning back to the other side of the Plaza. Thinking she’d still see Arlo over there, she tried to keep her head low but realized he had already left the Plaza. 

Along the river, the sea urchin bounced around with their parachutes. They were pretty weak and easy to defeat and harvest spines from but defeating the Sea Urchins it lured the Balloon Urchin to come out of hiding. Thinking about how easy the Sea Urchins were to take out, she challenged the Balloon Urchin. He was much tougher and his needles hurt more than the Sea Urchins. Before she knew it, the Balloon Urchin had knocked her onto her ass and was about to make her into a pincushion. 

Just then, Arlo jumped between Kate and the Balloon Urchin. He had been watching her from afar and noticed she was in distress. Arl quickly made his way over to her to block the Balloon Urchin from attacking her. Kate laid there watching Arlo defend her. At that moment, he was her White Knight and she was the helpless princess who couldn’t save herself. Kate was feeling weak, tired, and couldn’t move. Closing her eyes for just a moment, she passed out.

Arlo walked over to Kate after defeating the Balloon Urchin. She looked to be unharmed but tired from taking out all those Sea Urchins and then trying to take on a Balloon Urchin must have pushed her past her limit. He picked her up gently and carried her on his back, slinging her arms around his neck. Arlo made his way to the workshop, taking her home to Juliet.

As Juliet worked into the yard, she looked up when she noticed someone coming up the road from the river. When she saw it was Arlo with her sister draped over his back, she rushed out of the yard and over to them. “What did she do now?” she asked nervously.

“She was trying to take on a Balloon Urchin alone so I rushed in to save her but she must have exhausted herself and passed out,” Arlo explained as he tried to walk into the yard but Juliet was already trying to pull Kate down off his back.

Arlo began to place Kate on her feet. As he was setting her down, she was coming to. Kate stumbled on her feet and fell into Arlo’s chest where she buried her face.

“Come on you,” Juliet said as she tried to pull her sister away from Arlo.

Arlo didn’t want to let her go. He wanted to make sure she was alright before heading back on patrol. Juliet kept pulling at Kate, trying to get her off of Arlo. Kate turned to her sister and pushed her away and turned back to Arlo, looking up into his eyes.

Kate’s cheeks blushed. “Thank you for saving me, Arlo. I’m sorry I put you into a situation where you had to,” she said, trying to apologize to him

“It’s fine, just be a little more careful out there okay?” Arlo asked as he smiled at her.

“I’ll try...but I can’t make any promises,” Kate replied as she smiled back sweetly.

Arlo blushed. “I guess that’s all we can hope for. Now go on and get some rest,” he told her

“Alright then, if you two are done having a moment, I need to get my sister into the house for some rest. Have a good day Arlo,” Juliet said, interrupting them, pulling Kate out of Arlo’s arms..

“Eh...Right...good day ladies,” Arlo said as he turned away and walked back into town. Turning back once to see if Juliet got Kate into the house alright.

Kate spent the rest of the day resting in bed and writing in her journal. Juliet periodically checked in on her making sure she was still in bed and if she needed anything. 

“I’m sorry Juliet,” Kate said to her sister as she started to walk away.

“For?” Juliet questioned as she turned back to look at her sister

“Being a horrible sister and getting myself into a mess all the time,” Kate answered. 

“You're not a horrible sister if anything...you’re a way better sister than I am,” Juliet told her.

“Don’t say it. That's all in the past. Portia is our step forward to a fresh start.” Kate said, trying to reassure her sister. 

“I’m just grateful for all that you’ve done for me. If it wasn’t for you, I’d probably be locked up right now back home,” Juliet explained. 

“You didn’t deserve to be locked up after what he did to you,” Kate said, shaking her head.

“Right...I’m going to get back to work...Why don’t you get some sleep.” Juliet said as she made her towards the door.

Juliet left, leaving Kate all alone. She knew it was still hard for Juliet to talk about anything that took place six months ago. Kate didn’t think her sister had even fully processed it all., she just knew that Juliet would never fully recover from it.

The next morning Kate got up early before her sister to sneak out of the house. She made her way up through the town to Alice’s Flower Shop where she bought a bouquet of roses and made her way up the hill to the Civil Corps. She stopped at the door, her hand hovering over the handle. She was having second thoughts. She forced herself to grab the handle and opened it. She made it this far, it would be pointless to turn around now. Inside, Arlo was getting ready for his early morning training as he wrapped his hands for punching. He was surprised to hear someone opening the main door to the Civil Corps building but what surprised him more was who he saw coming in through the door. There was Kate, roses in hand.

“What brings you by?” Arlo asked as Kate made her way over to him.

“I wanted to thank you again for saving me yesterday, I brought you these flowers as a thank you gift,” Kate said as she held out the roses to him.

“That's not necessary, I was only doing my job, but thank you. It's a lovely gift,” Arlo said as he smiled at her, taking the roses from her.

“I’m glad you like it,” Kate said as his cheek blushed a little. “Umm..that offer for some training, is that still available?”

“Of course,” Arlo replied, a bit surprised yet oddly excited.

Arlo walked over to his desk to place the roses down. He made sure to carefully place them in fear he might damage the petals. As he returned, he reached for her hands. “Let me see your hands for a moment,” he said

“My hands?” Kate questioned 

“In our sparring match earlier, I noticed you have great fighting form but your hands seem to be very soft. It’s hard to believe that you are so skilled yet your hands look like they’ve never done a day's work,” Arlo said as he examined her hands.

“Haha, yeah, weird isn’t it. I guess I’m just unlucky that my hands haven’t hardened up,” Kate said nervously as she pulled her hands away from him.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure after a season of training, we’ll have those hands harden in no time,” Arlo said as he patted her shoulder trying to reassure her it was okay.

“That’s not that long, are you sure it won’t take that long?.” Kate asked

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Arlo replied as he picked up a spare bunch of wrap. “Let me see those hands one more time, I’ll show you how to properly wrap them. The last thing you need is another injury,” he laughed as he held out for her hands. 

Kate placed her hands in Arlo’s again and watched him wrap her hands carefully as he explained each step and the importance of a perfect hand wrapping. Arlo wrapped her hands tightly. It was almost too tight but she didn’t say anything to him.

“Come on, I’ll walk you through some exercise,” Arlo said as he finished wrapping her hands and made his way over to the training dummy, waving her over to join him.

Arlo and Kate spent the next two hours going through several punching exercises until they found the right routine for Kate. He was very impressed by her skill and was enjoying her company. While they worked out, they talked about the recent theft in town. Arlo mentioned that they had no suspects at this time but he wasn’t giving up on trying to locate the thief. As they finished up, Arlo offered her a towel to wipe away the sweat beading on her forehead as she started to unwrap her hands. He proceeded to make small talk.

“Are you planning on coming back again sometime this week?” Arlo said, handing her the towel. 

“Probably not. This weekend is the Fishing Tournament, I was hoping to convince my sister to take those two days off to enjoy the time off and go fishing,” Kate replied as she took the towel from his hand and began to pat the sweat off her forehead. 

“Oh, right, I hope to see you there then. Most of the town attends and it’s usually a good time,” Arlo said as he began to wipe away sweat from his own face. 

“Yeah, hopefully, we will be there,” Kate said, smiling at Arlo, trying to ignore the fact that he only mentioned wanting to see her. “Well...I better get going...my sister is probably worried I ran away or something,”

“You didn’t tell her you were coming here?” Arlo asked.

“She was still sleeping when I got up this morning. I didn’t want to wake her. She’s already had to put a lot of time and work into the haunted cave project without me. I wanted her to get some rest.” Kate explained as she handed the towel and wrappings back to him.

“Right...well here’s hoping she won’t be too upset then,” Arlo said as he took them from her hands.

“Thanks and thank you for the few hours of training. I appreciate it,” Kate said as she made her way to the door

“It’s not a problem. I enjoyed the company myself,” Arlo said as he followed behind her, dropping the towels and hand wrap on his desk right on top of the roses he had made sure to carefully place a few hours ago.

“Right...well I’m off then...later,” Kate said as she opened the door to walk through while Alro grabbed for the door, trying to hold it open for her.

“Bye,” Arlo said as he watched her walk away, heading down the hill into the town. 

Arlo turned back into the building and headed to his desk. As he looked down, he realizes he had placed the towels down onto the roses Kate had given him. He quickly picked up the towels and threw them onto the floor. Grabbing the roses, he inspected them, examining every inch carefully. They looked fine and just needed to get into some water so he headed into storage to grab a vase and went to the kitchen to fill it full of water. Bringing it back to place the vase on his desk where he set the roses in and made his way outside.

Kate made it home to find her sister hard at work. She was sure her sister was going to be mad at her but she didn’t care. She was willing to take her chances with her today.

“I’m home!” Kate said with a nervous smile on her face.

“Where have you been all morning? I was just thinking about sending Arlo out with a search party looking for you,” Juliet said looking over at her sister as she slowly made her way into the yard.

“I was up at the Civil Corps building, training with Arlo,” Kate said as she started to inspect the work her sister had done on the battery.

“Oh? Well, you’re not beat up so it must have gone well.” Juliet said as she shoved some more wood into the furnaces. 

“Haha, very funny. Arlo was just helping me harden my hands.” Kate laughed nervously.

“Goddesses don’t need hard hands,” Juliet said as she made her way to her sister.

“I wasn’t about to tell him that…” Kate said as she looked at her sister

“Let’s keep it that way,” Juliet said, patting her sister on the shoulder

“Hey, you know how there’s a Fishing Tournament this weekend starting tomorrow right? We should take those days off from working and enjoy the time off.” Kate said as she picked up a wrench off the worktable and started to use it as a fidget toy. 

“Okay, we can take the next two days off, but you still need a fishing rod and fishing bait but before you can run off and do that, you need to run into the ruin at the top and get me two springs for the battery. If you get the two springs, then we’ll go, deal?” 

Kate agreed but she wasn’t happy about it. Of course, it came with a price, but to be fair, she did this to herself. If she hadn’t gotten herself into trouble so many times and helped Juliet like she was supposed to be doing in the first place, then she probably wouldn’t be in this mess. 

Kate headed up to the ruin by the Civil Corps. She was in so much of a rush, she didn’t notice Arlo nearby watching her run into the ruin. He tried to say hi to her but she was already too far away for her to hear him. He could see she was in a rush and didn’t take offense to it but wondered what had her in that much of a hurry.

Later that night, Arlo, Remington, and Sam met up at the Round Table at their usual time. Arlo was in a cheerful mood compared to his last outing with the other members. They were in a heated game of darts, Arlo was in the lead with Remington hot on his heels in points. Sam was trailing behind.

“I’m glad to see you’re in better spirits today Arlo, I was starting to worry about you,” Remington said as Arlo and he stood by watching Sam try to line up her shot.

“Yeah, I’m feeling great, never better,” Arlo said as he grabs for his glass of water for a sip.

“I saw roses on your desk earlier when I went for a commission, you have a secret admirer?” Remington inquired. 

“What? no....it's just a gift from Kate for saving her yesterday, that's all,” Arlo replied. 

“Rescuing damsels in distress now are we?” Sam asked as she made her way back over to them.

“I was just doing my job, plus it's a lot better than rescuing Higgins,” Alro said as he made his way to the dartboard for his turn.

“Hahaha, I’m just picking. Anything is better than rescuing Higgins,” Sam said giggling.

“So things are going better between you two?” Remington asked.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. We spent a few hours this morning running some punching exercises together,” Arlo said as he pulled down the darts Sam had almost lodged in the wall.

“You two trained this morning together?” Sam asked with a surprised look on her face.

“Yeah, just something to help her harden her fists,” Arlo replied.

Remington and Sam both looked at each other. Just a week ago, Alro was worrying about how Kate saw him and now the two of them were spending time training together. 

It was late when Kate started to make her way home. It took her several hours but she managed to find two springs within the ruin. Unfortunately, it was way too late for her to get more fishing bait and she wasn’t sure she had the energy or time to make a fishing rod. Passing by the fountain in Peach Plaza, she noticed the patrons of the Round Table make their way out of the restaurant, heading home for the night. Arlo was making his way out when in the corner of his eye, he noticed Kate. She noticed him as well and stopped in her tracks. The two gave each other a subtle wave. Remington and Sam were making their way behind Arlo and saw the two exchange waves. Remington grabbed his friend's shoulder and pulled him along Main Street. Kate put her head down and continued on her way home.

As Kate made her way into the yard, she realized her sister had made a stone table and a couple of stools for them to sit on. She was sitting down, reading her book, and waiting for Kate to return.

“It looks like you’ve been keeping busy. You’re crafting is getting better too.” Kate commented

“Yeah, I needed something to do why I was waiting for you. Did you get the springs?” Juliet asked while closing her book.

“Yeah,” Kate said as she pulled the springs out from her bag and handed them to her sister.

“I made you something while you were gone,” Juliet said as she got up from the table.

“Oh?” Kate inquired.

Juliet pulled out a fishing rod from behind the worktable and a large container of bait. Kate’s eyes lit up with joy. She ran over to her sister and flung her arms around her. “I noticed it was getting late and you hadn’t made it back yet so I stopped over to Sophie’s and got the bait. Then I came back here and started to make the rod. I knew you wouldn’t leave there without the springs.” she said as she held out the rod and bait out to her sister.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Kate said as she ran to her sister and swung her arms around her.

“You’re welcome, now let's get these springs installed and head to bed so we can make it over to the Bassanio Falls tomorrow on time,” Juliet said as she pushed her sister away.

“Okay,” Kate replied with a joyful sparkle in her eye.

Kate held the battery still for her sister as she carefully installed two springs required to finish it. Juliet tightened the springs into place, got up, and dusted herself off. Proud of their work, Kate and Juliet patted each other on the back. They cleaned up the workshop and headed into the house for the night and got ready for bed. The next two days would be just them enjoying the much needed time off.


	6. The Fishing Tournament

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet and Kate take a much needed two days off from work as Kate enters the Portia Fishing Tournament but things continue to get awkward between Kate, Juliet, and Arlo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been trying to get chapters out every few days but I've been very busy lately with my drawings for Inktober, so chapters may come out as I find the time and remember to post them. If you're a fan of this series so far, I highly suggest checking out my Inktober drawings for this year over on my Twitter. (Link down below) There are a lot of Tale of Two Sister Art but I warn you that it does contain spoilers because it's all over the timeline.
> 
> http://www.twitter.com/JustKategaming

Chapter 6: The Fishing Tournament

Kate woke up early, excited for the fishing tournament. She was bouncing around the house getting ready as she changed out of her pjs and into her everyday clothes while trying to fix herself breakfast as well. Juliet tried to calm her sister down but nothing was going to contain the excitement Kate had. They were finally getting some time off from working.

“What’s gotten into you today? I’ve never seen you bubbly.” Juliet asked

“What do you mean? I’m always this bubbly.” Kate replied as she confidently flipped her hair over her shoulder.

“Not like this.” Juliet giggled.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Come on! Let's get going, we have less than an hour till the tournament starts and we still have to make our way to the Bassanio Falls.” Kate said as she made her way to the door.

Juliet left out a sigh “Alrighty, head on out and I’ll be right there behind you.” 

“Are you sure? I can wait,” Kate said

“No, I’m sure, go find us a nice spot.” Juliet as she waved her sister off.

“Okay, I’ll see you when you get there,” Kate replied as she headed out the door.

Kate made her way across the fields of the countryside outside of Portia and down by the river, following the river up to the falls. Back home, Juliet filled the furnaces with fuel and ore to smelt while they were gone before packing up a blanket to lay in the grass, her book, and some snacks for the girls to nibble on. When she was ready, she slowly made her way to the falls, enjoying the bright sun and spring breeze.

The tournament had already begun when Juliet finally arrived. Kate was already fishing and taking an early lead in points. As she approached her sister she noticed Alro was watching Kate from afar, looking away every once in a while, but always keeping a steady close eye on her. Juliet became cautious. She set up the blanket behind Kate and sat down, pulling her book out of her bag. She opened her book and began to read, looking up periodically to keep an eye on Arlo.

Kate turned to look at Juliet. “Where’s your fishing rod? You’re not going to fish?” she asked.  
“No, fishing isn’t really my thing, but I’ll be here watching you while I read my book,” Juliet replied as she watched her sister over the rim of the book.

Kate was a little bummed. “Oh, okay...what are you reading these days?” Kate asked.

“Pride and Prejudice,” Juliet replied

“You brought that here...we don’t even know if that literature existed here,” Kate commented

“Shh… don’t speak like that so loud. Someone will hear you and start getting suspicious.” Juliet said, trying to protect their identity. “It will be fine, I’ll just say I found it in the ruins.”

Kate rolled her eyes and continued to fish. She started to hum and eventually began to sing her favorite tunes. She was not better than her sister. Singing songs from her world was probably just as bad if not worse. She didn’t have an easy excuse like her sister. Arlo, who was already keeping an eye on her, noticed her singing and became so infatuated by her voice that he didn’t notice a bit on this fishing rod. Remington, who was fishing with him, tapped his friend on the shoulder as his finishing rod began to wiggle. Arlo quickly snapped out of it and began to pull his catch in.

Juliet was enjoying her sister singing as well. She would ask her sister to sing more, especially the ones she’s heard her sing before. “Sing the song about the White Wolf,” Juliet asked

“You want me to sing about the White Wolf again? Kate questioned

“Please, It’s my favorite.” Juliet pleaded.

“Okay” Kate replied joyfully.

It got later into the day, Arlo hadn’t made his way over yet, but Juliet was still cautious of him. Kate had gone to collect her prizes for the day. It was quite odd, apparently, they like to give out a lot of food as prizes. Kate wasn’t sure Juliet and she could eat all this food. As Kate started to make her way back to Juliet, she ran into Arlo.

Arlo stopped in front of her, trying to get her attention. “Great job out there today, you really know how to fish,” He complimented her.

Kate was taken off guard by his approach. “Oh, Arlo, umm...It was just luck really. You did pretty well yourself.” Kate told him.

“Haha...yeah I guess I did. Say, I overheard you singing earlier, you have a very pretty singing voice, do you sing often?” Arlo asked

“Oh, you heard that...it's just something I do when I’m bored,” Kate said, her cheeks softly blushing

Just as Arlo went to say something, Juliet came up to her sister and interrupted their conversation.

“Are you ready to head back home?” Juliet asked

“Oh, uh yeah,” Kate said as her sister walked by.

“Alright, let’s get going then,” Juliet ordered.

“Okay...oh hey Arlo, would you like this Spicy Fish Stew? Juliet and I don’t eat a lot of spicy foods. It really messes with our stomachs. I don’t want to see it go to waste,” Kate asked as she held up a container of stew.

Arlo's face lit up with joy. “I love Spicy Fish Stew, I’d be more than happy to take it off your hands,” he said as he reached over to grab the container.

Kate’s face beamed with a big smile “Enjoy,” she told him as she passed it over to him.

“Come along Kate,” Juliet called.

“I guess I’ll see you later then,” Kate said

“Right, bye,” Arlo replied

Kate ran off following her sister as Arlo watched the two girls walk off into the sunset. He was puzzled by Juliet's sudden changes in attitude towards him. Just a week ago she was apologizing for her sister to him. 

Remington walked up to Arlo with Sam trailing behind him. “Something wrong?” Remington asked as he noticed Arlo watching the girls head off with a concerned look on his face.

“I don’t know yet...Hey, do you think you could do me a favor?” Arlo asked

“Depends on the favor,” Remington replied.

Kate caught up with her sister. Juliet was maintaining a fast pace making a bit tough on her sister. “Hey, you okay, you seem uneasy about something,” Kate asked as she tried to keep pace with her sister

“He was watching you all,” Juliet said as she looked over her shoulder to see if Arlo was watching.

“Who?” Kate said, puzzled. 

“Arlo,” Juliet replied.

“What? I didn’t notice,” Kate said, still puzzled.

“What have you told him?” Juliet questioned.

Kate was very confused. She didn’t know what her sister was going on about. She knew better. “Nothing, why? Do you think he suspects something?” Kate asked

“He couldn’t keep his eyes off you,” Juliet replied

Kate paused for a moment. “Wait, was he just watching me, or was he watching both of us?” Kate said with a wide-eyed expression.

“Just you, from what I could tell, why?” Juliet asked

“Oh...interesting,” Kate said as her cheeks started to blush

“What?” Juliet said, now puzzled herself. 

“Nothing, I’ll tell you when you get older,” Kate said as she giggled.

“I’m the same age as you,” Juliet said, annoyed by her sister's comment as she slowed down and watched her sister pass her.

Kate walked up ahead of her sister, she was flattered but concerned as well too. Was Arlo growing feelings for her? Did she need to talk to him about how she had no intention of staying in Portia forever and she doesn’t want any romances?. She enjoyed the training session they had together and hoped to continue to train with him but if he was only offering to train her because he liked her, then she didn’t want to give him the wrong idea.

Back home, Juliet started emptying the furnace that she had left sitting all day to smelt. Kate questioned why she had done that and Juliet said just to have it ready on hand. Kate headed in and got ready for bed with Juliet following along not too far after. The girls said good night to each other and went to bed.

The next morning the girl woke up, got ready for the day, and made their way out of the house, through the grass fields, and up the river. They quite enjoyed their spot from yesterday so went back to it and set up the blanket. Juliet sat down to read her book as Kate ran off to sign up for the day. As Kate walked off, Remington appeared from the crowd of people and made his way over to Juliet.

“Hey... I noticed you over here reading your book, you're not going to fish with your sister,” he said nervously.

Juliet looked over her book at Remington who was now standing in front of her.

“No, fishing isn’t my thing,” she replied

“Oh, that's too bad, fishing can be quite fun you know, plus you can fry up the fish later after you catch them, that is,” he said trying to make small talk with her

“I’m not much of a cook, that's my sister’s thing,” she said with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

“Oh,” Remington said as he froze up trying to think of something to say to her

Meanwhile, Kate was getting her fishing rod ready for the tournament when Arlo walked up next to her. He started to make small talk.

“Good morning, Wanna see who can catch the biggest fish today? Little friendly competition?” he asked

“Oh hey Arlo, I think I’ll pass, lately our friendly competitions send me home to bed for the rest of the day,” Kate replied

“Oh come on, it’s just fishing, plus look, your chin is already healed up and you can’t even tell you had a bruise there,” Arlo said as he went to place his hand on her shoulder.

Kate pulled away before he placed his hand on her shoulder. He was taken back by this. “Is something wrong?” Arlo asked her, worried he must have said or done something to upset her.

“Arlo, you’re not falling for me are you?” she asked him with a very concerned look on her face. Her glare made him very comfortable.

“No...why would you ask that? I mean...not that I don’t find you attractive but we’ve just met,” he said nervously. 

“Good. The last thing I need right now is someone trying to pine for my affection. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think you’re bad looking yourself but I’m not looking for a relationship with anyone. I only plan on staying in Portia for a year or two.” she replied.

“Oh, right...sorry, there must have been some mixed signals at some point. I’m not looking for that kind of relationship either,” he said, embarrassed by the fact she thought he was flirting with her.

Arlo wanted to say something more to her but he was too embarrassed to say a thing more. Kate was quiet too, it had become awkward between the two of them suddenly. “Well, I better head back to Julie, I’ll catch you later,” she said ash she turned her back to him and started to walk off

“Later,” he replied, watching her walk away. Things didn’t feel the same way between them as they had. It was always one step forward and ten steps back.

When Kate got back to Juliet, Remington was sitting next to her, chatting away. She had a smile across her face unlike any she had ever seen on her face before. It was rewarding to see her sister happier than usual.

“Well, isn’t this quite a pleasant surprise! You two having fun?” Kate asked as she approached the two. 

“Ahem...I was just getting ready to leave,” Remington said as he stood up. Juliet stood up as well.

“It was a pleasure talking to you Remington,” Juliet said

“The pleasure was all mine, but I must really get going and get ready for the tournament,” Remington said ash he gave her a smile

“Good luck,” Juliet said as she smiled back at him

“Thanks,” Remington said as he headed off, “Catch you later,”

“What was that about?” Kate asked.

Juliet looked at her sister confused. “What are you talking about?” Juliet asked

“You and Remington,” Kate said

“He just came over to make conversation, that's all,” Juliet said as she sat back down.

“You were just suspicious of Arlo and now you’re casually talking to one of his officers,” Kate said as she placed her fishing rod down for a moment.

“Hmm, I can see where you’re coming but I doubt he had any ill intention when coming over here to talk. He seems like a really nice guy,” Juliet said with a dreamy look in her eyes.

“Julie, don’t tell me you have a crush for the guy,” Kate asked her sister with a concerned look on her face.

“What...no...we’ve just met,” Juliet said as she blushed

“Good, we don’t need distractions,” Kate said as she bent over to her sister with her hand resting on Juliet's shoulder.

The tournament had started so Kate made her way to the river. Juliet watched her sister. She was lost and confused. She will admit, she does find Remington attractive but she doesn’t even know the guy. She did enjoy talking with him and he seemed to enjoy talking to her as well.

Arlo and Remington were down at the other end of the tournament area. They began to talk while they fished along the river. “Did you find out anything?” Arlo asked.

“No, I didn’t get a chance to ask. What about you, did you get any answers?” Remington said.

“No, I wasn’t able to ask her either,” Arlo replied

The competition was a little tougher today but by the end of the day, Kate managed to finish on top, only losing one round of the tournament to Abu, a huge bear who Kate and Juliet see often walking around in a bathrobe around the eastern side of the countryside. Kate was a bit upset that he was allowed to fish without a rod as he would just jump into the river and began to pull fish out with his bare claws but she didn’t say a thing. To be fair, it was a good challenge for her.

Late into the afternoon as the tournament ended, the girls packed up and headed off back home where they would get ready to install the battery in the cave tomorrow. As Kate followed behind Juliet, Arlo approached her once more.

“Hey, great job out there today Champ,” He said, giving her a congrats nudge on the arm.

“Oh, thanks Arlo,” Kate said as she stopped to talk to him.

“You’re pretty good at a lot of things aren’t you,” he commented

“I’m just a Jill of all trades, you could say it runs in my family,” Kate replied

“Come on Kate, we need to get back home,” Juliet called to her.

“Is your sister alright? I’ve noticed she's been in a bit of a rush as of late.” Arlo asked with a censored look on his face.

“Nah, she’s always been like that. Why do you ask?” Kate asked, hoping to understand.

“Oh, nothing, I just thought something happened. Lately, every time you and I talk, she’s not too far behind rushing you away,” he explained.

“Hmm, I didn’t notice,” she lied, “Oh, Arlo, I got more Spicy Fish Stew, would you like to take it home with you again?”

“Of course, I’d love to,” he said with a smile on his face.

She reached into her bag and grabbed the container and handed it over to him. He thanked her for the gift but she was just happy to see it not go to waste. Juliet called for her sister once more impatiently. Kate ran off to catch up, turned back, and gave Arlo a quick wave goodbye. He waved back and watched the two girls walk off. Remington walked up next to him and watched as well. He wasn’t too far away trying to listen in to their conversation.

Kate caught up to her sister, walking alongside her in the grass fields of Portia. Kate worked up the courage to talk to her sister. “Hey, you know, you’ve been acting very protective of me lately whenever I’m around Arlo, he’s starting to take notice.”

Juliet didn’t reply to her sister and continued on home.

“Did I do something to upset you?” Kate asked.

Again Juliet did not reply to her sister. They continued on home, not speaking a word to each other. That night Juliet stayed in the yard, working on organizing the workshop as Kate felt the need to go out to chop some wood and clear her mind. She wasn’t sure why Juliet was upset with her.


	7. Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arlo invites Kate to investigate something unusual going on outside the town that leads to trouble between Juliet and her. Can this quarl be fixed? Or will these two sisters go back to their old ways?

Chapter 7: Bonding

Kate got up early to get dressed and make her way out of the house. She had gotten used to getting up so early now, it was like clockwork, even on the days she had to stay up late, she was still wide awake at the crack of dawn. She quickly made her way into the yard to check on the furnaces her sister had going, collecting any smelted bars that were ready and putting them neatly away. As she was opening the wooden storage she heard a familiar voice speaking to her from the other side of the fence. 

“I figured I find you out here early in the morning, you have a minute?” Arlo asked as he tried to get her attention.

“What is it Arlo?” she asked as she peered over the wooden storage

“I was wondering if you might like to take a little trip with me while we investigate something unusual. I’d ask Remington or Sam but unfortunately, they’re both too busy today working on commissions. How about it?” he asked

She was hesitant to accept his request. She was supposed to be heading out with Juliet today to install the battery but she loved a good mystery. Maybe she could make it home before Juliet even noticed she was gone. “Sure, I’d love to. Where are we heading to?” she said as she closed the wooden storage and made her way over to him. 

“Not far from here, just along the wall of the town. Come on,” he said as he started to make his way to the wall.

Kate followed behind him, it wasn’t long at all until they reached the wall and split up to look for clues. Kate found tracks leading to a corner of the wall. “Hey Arlo, what are we looking for anyway?” she said as she followed the track to something lay on the ground.

“Something out of the normal,” Arlo told her as he examined the grass around him.

“Like this?” Kate said, holding up what looked like Llama fur torn from the flesh of the creature. 

Arlo walked over to her and examined the tufted fur. “Hm, this fur is from a Colorful Llama. It doesn't look like shedding...it looks like it was ripped away. Yeesh, is this all that's left of the thing? What would do something like this?”

“Another creature?” Kate asked.

Arlo pondered as he looked around. “Possible, these tracks, they look like they continue on, come on, let's follow them,” he said to her.

The two of them continued along the wall, following the tracks that led them to the forest outside the Eastern Gate. The tracks seemed to stop. Arlo looked puzzled but started to look around to see if the track appeared somewhere nearby. Kate began to look as well, checking behind trees and bushes. 

She noticed something by the cliffside and made her way over to it. “Hey Arlo, come check this out,” she said as she picked up a green subsistence.

Arlo made his way over and took the green mucus-like substance from her to examine it. “This time its mucus...looks like there are shards of ladybug shell in it, too. I think we can safely assume that whatever left all this behind, is big and hungry. I think there'd be more evidence sitting around if this was a normal fight between monsters, don't you?” he asked.

Kate thought about all the clues. “Yeah, interesting, it's only choosing to attack passive creatures,” she said

“Alright, now the tracks lead to the waterfall...what's there, I wonder?” he said as he looked towards the river.

Arlo led onward to the waterfall. It was hard to believe that they were just there yesterday fishing and now they're back, chasing down a monster together. They approached the river bank to find the tracks disappear into the river. Arlo looked disappointed as he bent down to examine the last tack. He suddenly stood up and backed up close to Kate, making himself into a shield to protect her. “Look sharp! There are unusual monsters here!”

Large fish-like creatures with legs came springing out of the water. They had sharp teeth like a piranha and hopped around like a fish out of water on two legs. They started lunging towards them, snapping their teeth at them. Arlo began attacking them, pushing them back away from Kate, but she wasn’t going to let Arlo have all the fun. She waited for an opening and ran in, swift kicking the creatures onto their sides.   
They retreated and headed back up the waterfall. “Jump Dancers never appear this far outside the ruins... Something must have drawn them out here. It looks like the tracks lead right up to the river, then disappear. Drat. I guess that's the end of our excursion today.” Arlo said as he watched the Jump Dancers scurry off.

Kate looked at him concerned. “So we just wait then?” she asked

“Not much else we can do right now. I'll have to inform the Mayor of this and see if we need to post a watch.” Arlo explained. He looked at her with a slight smile. Trying to play it cool. ”You were pretty tough out there, though. You never quit to amaze me. If I learn anything new about this situation, I'll let you know.”

“Thanks,” Kate said as she looked down at her watch to see the time “Oh shit, Julie is gonna kill me,” she panicked.

It was almost noon, Arlo and she have been out investigating for several hours now. Juliet was probably already done with the commission from the guild. No doubt she was waiting for her to return so they could install the battery.

Arlo could see the panic in her eyes. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I promised my sister we’d go install the battery in the cave today, it's almost noon, she’s going to kill me...” Kate explained.

Arlo smiled and chuckled to himself “Haha, better get running then.” he told her.

“Right, thanks for inviting me to investigate with you Arlo, I really enjoyed myself. See you later!” Kate said as she ran off, waving goodbye

“Later,” Arlo said, waving back at her.

Kate made her way into town before heading home. She stopped at Alice’s Flower Shop and picked out a bouquet of Roses. Everyone loves roses. 

“Roses again Kate, giving them to a special somebody?” Alice asked as she giggled.

“No, these are for my sister, the last ones were a thank you gift,” Kate replied as she handed Alice the gols and started making her way through Main Street, into Peach Plaza, and out the Western Gate. When she got home, Juliet was just finishing the commission from the Commerce Guild.

With the roses in hand, she walked through the gate and to her sister. “I’m sorry Julie, I didn’t mean to be gone for some long. Please don’t be mad,” she said as she held out the roses to her sister.

Juliet turned to look at her sister. She could tell her sister was indeed sorry, but she had been worried she ran off on her. “I thought you left for good like you always do.’ she told her.

“I’m sorry Julie, I should have left you a note, Arlo came by early this morning..” Kate started to say but her sister interrupted her.

“Arlo, Arlo, Arlo... it’s always Arlo with you.” Juliet said angrily

“You told me to be friends with him,” Kate replied with a confused look on her face.

“I said to be friends with him, not run off on adventures with him every day. While you’re off having fun, I’m stuck here doing all the work.” Juliet shouted

Kate dropped the roses, petals fell off as the heads of the roses crashed into the grass. Tears started to fall down her cheeks. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted to say something but she couldn’t. Her sister turned away from her, too ashamed to say anything more. Kate turned to the gate and ran out. She headed towards the Western Sea coast past the harbor. It was mid-afternoon by the time she arrived. The waves crashed wildly onto the shore. The clouds on the horizon showed a storm was coming in. Kate threw herself into the sand. Tears began to stream down her cheeks again. She didn’t know what to do. She was enjoying her growing friendship with Arlo and her sister but now she felt like she was split, trying to decide between someone she barely knew or her sister. 

She sat there for a while, watching the waves wash ashore and drawback in just as quickly as they came. The sun was getting ready to set. The sky was now darker with clouds and the setting sun’s orange glow clashed with the blackened sky. Footsteps in the sand let her know someone was approaching her. It was Juliet. She had been looking for Kate for a few hours now. Juliet sat down next to her sister in the sand. They sat there for a few moments before either of them spoke.

“I’m sorry.” They both started to say to each other.

“I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you like that,” Juliet added.

“I shouldn’t have a runoff,” Kate replied as she continued to watch the tide.

“Has living like a human always been this hard?” Juliet asked as she sat down next to her sister, joining her sister in watching the tide.

Kate paused for a moment before answering. “I don’t know, I don’t remember my life before I died,” she replied.

“If you want to be friends with Arlo, I won’t get in your way, just remember to make time for me too okay?” Juliet told her.

Kate let out a big sigh. “I don’t even know if I want to be friends with Arlo, I’m afraid if I do, he’ll want more from me then I can give him,” she replied

“You don’t know that for sure,” Juliet said, trying to comfort her sister. 

“No, but it’s happened many times to me already. We can’t have a normal life like humans.” Kate said depressingly

“Yeah, our life is far from normal, but I know you dream about having a normal life,” Juliet commented

“Some dreams aren’t meant to be real,” Kate said, tucking her head into her arms and knees.

“You deserve your dreams to come true and I want to be there to help you,” Juliet said smiling at her sister, resting her hand on her sister’s back

“How?” Kate asked. She was delusional if she thought they could live the perfect life.

“I don’t know, but we’ll find away. I promise. I won’t give up on you. You didn’t give up on me so now it’s my turn to repay that.” Juliet pledged. 

Kate turned to Juliet and gave her sister a hug. “I love you, Juliet,” she said, her voice muffled by Juliet’s shoulder

Juliet squeezed her back. She held her close and began to pet her softly on the head. “I love you too, Little Goddess,” Juliet said

Kate smiled. “Haha, hey only dad is allowed to call me that,” she giggled. “But you want to call me that too, I guess it’s okay.”

“It’s getting dark, we should start making our way home. We can try to install the battery tomorrow,” Juliet said as she pulled herself away from her sister.

They got up out of the sand and made their way off the beach. They headed home, walking along the path that led to the town. Even with the clouds rushing in, the moon still rose, fighting to shine down to light the path for the girls. The girls made it home and headed to bed.

Juliet woke Kate up bright and early, not that she needed to, but she wanted to make sure her sister was up and ready to go. They still needed to get a commission before heading into the cave. Kate crawled out of bed, her sister telling her to hurry up. She looked at her, still half asleep.

“Ugh, I slept pretty well last night but I still feel like shit this morning,” Kate grumbled as she dragged herself out of bed.

“Come on, Sleepy, if we get this done today, you can go train with Arlo tomorrow morning okay?” Juliet said, trying to compromise with her sister.

“I suppose,” she said as she made her way to the table for breakfast. It took Kate a second to realize they had a table and chairs to sit out. “Hey, wait, when did we get a table and chairs?”

“I bought them from Paulie yesterday while you were off with Arlo yesterday morning.”

“Oh,” Kate replied as she sleepily started to munch on some fruit. 

After breakfast, the girls made their way to the Commerce Guild. They had to wait a few minutes before the doors opened. Higgins was waiting as well which made for an interesting interaction.

“My workshop will always be number one! Now and forever! You should remember that.” Higgins said, antagonizing the girls.

“You may be number one right now, but check yourself before you wreck yourself because we’re going to be number one before the year is over!” Kate said confidently.

Juliet sighed at her sister’s attempt to banter with Higgins. The sound of the doors unlocking signified that it was eight o’clock and the Commerce Guild was now open. Kate sprinted for the door with Juliet following behind her leaving Higgins bewildered by how fast the two made it to the door and inside. 

Antione was pleased to see the girls in so early this morning. It was a nice change of pace seeing them through the door first instead of Higgins who always had a frown on his face. Instead, the girls were usually playful and happy on most days. Today was no exception to that, They had the day planned out. Commissions and then the cave. After quickly picking out a commission before Higgins could get to the board, Juliet and Kate made their way back home to craft it. It was a daily simple task, Merlin needed five pieces of glass which they had already made up. They just needed to pick it at the workshop and drop it off, then they could make their way to the cave on Amber Island.

At the cave, the girls meet with Liuwa, one of the Hulu brothers who the Mayor has in charge of the cave project. “Good Morning, we’re here to install the battery for the cave,” Juliet said as the girls approached the cave entrance.

“I'm surveying this cave. The Mayor wants me to set up a haunted cave here. If you're going in, stock up on health items, since it's still dangerous inside!” he said as he warned the girls before they headed into the cave.

“Thanks for the heads up,” Kate said, giving him a quick nod.

The girls made their way into the cave. It was dimly lit and very wet inside. You could hear the water drip off the ceiling and into puddles of water on the ground. Following the cave’s path, they ran into Snailobs, a lobster snail-like hybrid creature that snapped their claws at the sight of the girls. They were looking for a fight. Kate fended them off as Juliet made her way ahead with the battery. There were some power crystal nodes along the path, Kate stopped to harvest them, no need to go empty-handed. If they were going to this much trouble to install a battery, then they might as well make it worth it. They came to a big room with a very large Snailob known as a Hermit Snailob. It took up the center of the room and wasn’t happy to see the two girls approach it.

“What is with the creatures in this world? I can’t believe they can get so godly in size.” Kate said as she pulled her sword off her back.

“Just keep your wits,’ Juliet said as she placed the battery down.

Kate ran towards the Snailob to attack. It was a lot faster than it looked but it still wasn’t fast enough for her attacks. Just when Kate thought it was going to be easy to defeat, the Snailob jumped up into the air and curled itself into its shell, dropping down, slamming down into the ground. Kate had thought she had dodged far enough but the Snailob began to spin rapidly. It clipped her and knocked her back. 

“You're such a brute, remember a sword fight is a dance that tells a story,” Juliet yelled to her sister.

Kate picked herself back up along with her sword. She watched the Snailob as it made its way to her. It struck at her and she dodged it, dancing around its claw. She made her way through its legs and struck it in the abdomen. She didn’t kill it but it was not badly wounded. She pulled her sword out and ran out from under it before it could swat at her. Juliet joined the fight. With both girls now on opposite sides of the Snailob, they could use this to their advantage, one sister could distract the Snailob while the other takes the final blow but who? Kate had already done quite a bit of damage to the Snailob, she could take the opportunity to reserve her strength and let Juliet finish him off or she could take all the glory and finish it herself. Kate signaled her sister. She ran up to the Snailob, trying to get it to attack her. It slammed it large claws at the ground as she dodged from its attempts to hit her. She danced around it, like a mouse with a cat. Juliet snuck up behind it and rammed her sword into the wound Kate had made previously and dragged it down its underbelly, ripping it wide open. Its innards dropped to the ground behind her. As she walked away, the giant creature dropped to the ground and fell to its side.

“Great job,” Kate complimented her sister.

“Thanks, you didn’t do too bad yourself,” Juliet replied

There was a ramp leading up to another part of the cave, it seemed to be the only way further into the cave and nothing in this room looked like it needed a battery. As they made their way up the top of the ramp, they ran into these rat-like creatures neither of them has seen in Portia since they arrived. They were pretty gnarly and dirty. Most of them had snaggle teeth but they seemed easier to defeat than the Snaillobs who at least had their shells to protect them. 

The rest of the way up was clear however and it led them to another room with two doors. The one going in which was open and the other door heading somewhere else in the cave. In the middle of the room was a control panel with an empty sport where a battery may fit. They seemed to have finally found the location they were looking for. The girls made swift work of installing the battery. Juliet finished the last touches to installing the battery as Kate gave the controls a quick look, trying to figure out how it functioned. Looked easy enough to her. She pressed a few buttons and pulled the lever to activate it. The control panel started to beep and the door they came through closed and the closed-door opened.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” Kate said as Juliet and her watched three Rat Creatures run into the room. 

“You klutz, look what you did now,” Juliet said to her sister, getting ready to fight off more rats.

“It must be on the fritz, it shouldn’t have done that,” Kate replied as she too got into a fighting stance too.

They fought off the rats and decided to investigate the newly opened tunnel, if there were rats waiting at the door, then who's to say there wasn’t more. As they walked through the tunnel, they started to notice items littering the ground here and there.

“Is that.. Emily’s bucket? She was complaining someone stole her bucket that she feeds her chickens and ducks with. The rats must have stolen it.” Kate said as she picked up the bucket off the ground.

“Look here, this must be Gust’s lamp,'' I overheard him grumbling one morning about it on his way into work. She said as she picked up the lamp off a rock. “It’s a bit dirty”

“What do you expect from being in a cave for a week?” Kate asked sarcastically.

“Look sharp, there are more rats coming this way,” Juliet said alerting Kate, preparing them to take more rats.

After clearing out the rats, they came to a fork in the road. They decided to split, Juliet went left and Kate stayed right, clearing out any rat they came in reach of. Eventually, the two paths reconnected and the girls met back up. 

“Any luck?” Kate asked

“Just more stolen items, I found Remington’s boots he told me he was missing, Rats must have made their way into the Civil Corps too,” Juliet said as she held up an old smelly pair of boots.

“Hmm.,” Kate said as she thought about how Arlo could allow such a thing to happen on his watch. For someone investigating the situation, he seemed clueless to her.

They could see that the tunnel led to a large opening up ahead. They made their way through and entered what looked like the start of a sewer complex. They walked onto a platform that was high above the bottom of the room.

“Look there,” Kate said, pointing to a much larger rat with a few rats around it, fanning it off.

“That must be the boss of the rat..is it wearing a crown?” Juliet asked, glaring down at the creature. 

“Uh, yeah, I guess it is,” Kate said as she gave it a quick look. “Shall we dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?”

“Huh?” Juliet said as she looked at her sister confused.

“Never mind, it's a movie reference, you wouldn’t get it. Shall we take this Rat Prince out?”

“Prince, are you assuming its gender?” Juliet asked with her eyebrow raised

“Yeah, looks like an edge lord to me,” Kate said, giving the Rat Prince a quick look over.

“A what now?” Juliet confused once again by her sister's pop culture references. 

“Never mind, let's go,” Kate said as she rolled her eyes and prepared herself to drop down below. Juliet followed behind her and both made a three-point landing on the ground. The rats dropped what they were doing and jumped into action. The Rat Prince picked up a fork the size of him, like a trident but made to be a fork. The Rat Prince swung it around trying to look intimidating. Kate and Juliet were not impressed.

“So you’re the thieves that took all the stolen items,” Kate said to the Rat Prince but the creature could only respond with squeaks and squeals.

“Are you expecting that thing to talk back?” Juliet asked her sister.

“It did, it said ‘What if we are, what are you going to do about it?’ Didn’t you hear it?” Kate replied looking at her sister

“All I heard was squeaking,” Juliet replied.

The Rat Prince had enough of their bickering and ordered his rats to attack. Juliet and Kate jumped back as they tried to swing pipes at them. They each took on one rat and forced the rats into submission. With a quick blow to the head, they were knocked out. The Rat Prince wasn’t too happy to see his rats taken out so easily and ran to attack the girls, throwing his fork at them and swinging himself around on it, trying to knock the girls back. Both Kate and Juliet dodged backward and split off to opposite sides of the room. He wasn’t going to be in an easy fight but the two girls knew he had to be dealt with. Each girl drew their sword and faced the Rat Prince, they both gave a nod and began to charge the rat. As hard as he tried to hit both girls, they both manage to dance around him, confusing the Rat Prince, causing him to fall over. Kate jumped on top of the creature and ran her sword through its chest. It lets a horrid squeal and collapsed. 

“Poor thing, I wonder where creatures here go when they die,” Juliet asked.

“I don’t know, hell? Why don’t you follow its soul through the Veil and see.” Kate said Jokingly

“You know we aren’t supposed to use the Veil right now unless it’s an emergence or father has ordered us to,” Juliet said, lecturing her sister like a school child.

“Okay, okay, don’t rip my head off, let’s get the rest of these items out of here and back to town. We should probably let the Mayor know about this.” Kate said as she picked up an old dirt milk jug. “There seems to be a draft around that door, must lead out of here,” she said pointing to a door in the corner of the room.

The two girls made their way to the door, opening. Light seeped into the room and the light blinded them as the exit. As they stepped out they were met by the Civil Corps. They were fist up and ready to fight whatever was coming out of the door.

“Oh so now you show up,” Kate said as she crossed her arms staring at Arlo

“Kate! Juliet! What are you two doing here?” Arlo asked as he looked at the two girls, confused at why they were coming out of the door to the sewer.

The two girls explained how they went into the cave to fix the power generator and how the doors malfunctioned, leading them to the rats who had stolen the items in town. They told of their valent battle against the Rat Prince. 

“The cave complex extended all the way to here? And you defeated them all? Wow.” Sam said, really impressed with the two girls.

“So the bandirats were behind the thefts? I knew it! They're been crowding around our town for a while now.” Remington said proudly 

“We were following some leads that brought us here, just about to go inside as well. You two take a break and go tell our mayor what happened, we'll head on in and clear out any stragglers.” Arlo said as he gave Kate a quick pat on the shoulder. 

The Civil Corps made their way into the sewer as the girls made their way into the town. Kate turned back to see Arlo for a moment once more but he was already gone in. She touched her shoulder where he had patted her. Juliet called out to her. She broke from her drifting mind and came back to focus. She quickly ran back to Juliet, catching up to her as they made their way to the Mayor’s office.

“So that's what happened. I should have asked the Civil Corps to check out the cave first. But what-da-ya-know, you fixed two problems at once! Congratulations! And here's some extra for helping the town solve the mystery thief problem,” The Mayor said as he handed Juliet their reward. 

“Thank you, Mr. Mayor,” Juliet said, taking the reward.

“I guess we should go locate the owners of these missing items now,” Kate said as she looked at her overflowing bag of lost items. 

“ Excellent idea, I’m sure the people in the town would appreciate that very much.” the Mayor said cheerfully.

Indeed they did. Kate and Juliet left the Mayor’s office and walked through the town. The first stop was to Gust, he was working for the rest of the afternoon in A and G Construction. However after seeing the condition of his lamp, he was disgusted with the sight of it.

“This is my lamp...uhh, it’s so diary, you can keep it,” he said, snubbing the item.

“Well, your highness, a simple thank you for all the trouble would be appreciated,” Kate said, holding the lamp.

“Don’t mind her Gust, sorry to take up your time,” Juliet said as she began to pull her sister away to the door.

Martha was most appreciative to have her cooking pot back. She rewarded the girls with some freshly baked bread which Kate appreciated in return. They backtracked and walked to the countryside to the farms where they met with Emily and Farmer McDonald. McDonald was pleased to see his milk jug return even with how dirty it was and Emily was so happy the girls had found her bucket, she rewarded the girls with fresh eggs. Kate was happy with this because this means she could make herself some eggs and toast for the next few days. They headed back into town and back to the sewer entrance where they had left Presley’s sofa. As they approached, Remington made his way out. Nervously, Juliet walked up to him with his shoes in hand. 

“Oh Remington, I believe these are your shoes?”

“My shoes! Ahahah, I was wondering where they went. Thank you so much” he said happily as he took them from her hands with a big smile on his face.

“No problem,” Juliet said as she smiled back at him. 

“Well, that's almost all the items, let's get this sofa to Presely and we are set,” Kate said as she nudged her sister. Juliet wasn’t happy her sister was interrupting her but she was right. They needed to get this sofa back to Presley.

“I guess I’ll see you around then,” Juliet said before turning away and helping her sister lift up the sofa.

“See you around,” Remington replied as he watched the two girls lift the sofa up with ease and walk away.

Presley was amazed to see the girls carry the sofa into the Commerce Guild. He was even more amazed the rats had stolen it in the first place but he was appreciative to have it back, even if it was dirty.


	8. Hazard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls learn they must earn their entry to the Collapse Wasteland to get to the Hazardous Ruin through the Civil Corps, but is Kate ready to face Arlo in a rematch?

Chapter 8: Hazard

The next morning Kate got up early so she could quickly get ready to meet up with Arlo for her morning training with him. She rushed out the door only to be met by two men waiting by the gate.

“How do, new citizens! I'm Agent T, and this is my partner, Agent H. We are a part of the Free Cities' Debt Collection Agency.” said the small weasel looking of a man.

“Can I help you?” Kate asked as she gave the two a quick glance in confusion.

“Yes, it has come to our attention that you’re one of the offsprings of the former owner of this workshop. Is that correct?” Agent T asked.

“Yeah, what about it?” she asked as Juliet walked up behind her watching the two carefully.

“Oh, good! Your father accrued 50000 Gols in debt from his business. Since we cannot find him, the debt has fallen to you - as his closest kin. Because I'm a nice guy, I'll give you a week to come up with that money. If you don't pay up, we'll take his house as collateral. If you try to run, we will inform the Civil Corps.” he said with a slight snicker in his voice.

The two left just as quickly before the girls could say anything back.

“Well, so two are Tuss and Huss,” Juliet said as the two girls watched them scurry away like rats. Both Juliet and Kate knew who Tuss and Huss were. They had been studying the timeline of Portia for a while now in their free time. The book their father had given them before they arrived had come quite useful as of late. 

“Shall we go see the Mayor then?” Juliet asked 

Kate let out a big sigh. She was looking forward to training with Arlo this morning. “Yeah, I guess it can’t be helped.”

The girl ran into town and met the Mayor outside his office as she made his way in to start his day.

“Debt Collectors Agency? There is such a thing... but I didn't know your father had any debt. I have a suggestion; the next time they drop by, send them to me so we can work out a deal. You've worked hard for Portia, so it's the least we can do. You should also have a talk with Martha, she had to deal with some debt when her husband passed. Maybe she can give you some legal pointers?”

“Thank you, Mr. Mayor, we’ll go have a talk with her,” Juliet said before the two girls made their way to Central Plaza where they met with Martha who was doing her morning exercises with Carol. 

“Pardon us, Martha, do you have a minute to talk?” Juliet asked politely as the two girls interrupted her routine.

“How can I help you, two girls, this morning,” Martha asked with a pleasant smile on her face.

The two girls explained their troubles with the Debt collectors and how the Mator made mention that she could give them some advice.

“I'm so sorry to hear that you're dealing with your father's debt! Though from what I can remember, he didn't seem like the type who'd be in debt...Anyway, I've had to deal with the debt agency before. The point man around Portia is actually Mr. Isaac, so they're very easy to deal with and very fair. Don't worry too much!” Martha explained.

“Issac? That’s not who approached us this morning…” Kate told Martha

“No, that can't be right... Unless something happened that I'm not aware of, Mr. Isaac should still be the sole representative in our town. Maybe you should talk with him. He'll set the record straight I reckon.”

Juliet and Kate thanked Martha for her help. They made their way into the park where Issac would usually be found pondering over moves with himself of cross five. They explained to him about the debt collectors that came to their door. He was confused and didn’t know what they were talking about.

“What are you yapping about? Your father didn't have any debt. Heck, I'd even classify him like a penny pincher during his time here. Whoever came to you wasn't from the debt agency.” he explained 

“I believe they called themselves Agent T and Agent H?” Kate explained to Issac.

“Tuss and Huss! These two buffoons are at it again!

“Those two Banit brothers everyone talked about when everything went missing?”

“Or at least they try to be! They make some trouble now and then, but they're mostly just a pair of imbeciles.” Issac explained 

“What do you think we should do then?” Kate asked

“Well, I'd ignore them. But that's just me. Maybe you can have the Civil Corps do something about it.” he said as he went back to his game of cross five.

“Well, I don’t think we both need to run all the way up there, You head to the Commerce Guild Jules and get a commission and I’ll go talk go talk to Arlo,” Kate said to Juliet

“Maybe you’ll have enough time to get some training with Arlo,” Juliet said optimistically.

Kate let out another sigh, she doubted it very much. They parted ways and Kate made her way up the hill. She entered the Civil Corps. Arlo was in the middle of an intense round of punches. His usual jacket was off, hanging off the chair at his desk. Kate could see his muscle tone that usually hid under his jacket. He was dripping with sweat. She stared for a few minutes, fixated on him but just as quickly she snapped out of it and cleared her throat to grab his attention. Arlo stopped his workout and turned to look at Kate.

“Good morning, I didn’t think you’d come by today, but I’m glad you did. I’m impressed by your work yesterday with the Banirats. If you ever get tired of being a Builder, you'd make a good Civil Corps officer, I think.” he said proudly as he wiped the sweat off with a towel and made his way over to her.

“It wasn’t all me, Juliet was there helping out too,” Kate said as her cheeks flushed with a hint of rose coloring.

“Either way, you both did well in there,” Arlo said as he placed his towel down onto the desk. “Was there something you needed?”

Kate tried to explain to Arlo about Tuss and Huss and their scheme to make 50,000 Gols off the girls without staring at his chest and arms. They were so muscle-bound. He was still pretty scrawny but you wouldn’t have guessed he looked like this under the baggy jacket he wears.

Arlo smirked at her. “Huss and Tuss? Doing what now? Haha! That's pretty clever of them.” he replied to her as he laughed.

Kate was upset at him for laughing. “It’s not funny Arlo,” she said with a stern look on her face.

Arlo stopped laughing and looked her in the eyes. “How much time did they give you? A week, right? I'll be sure to show up that morning as well.” He said as he placed his hand on her shoulder trying to show support. Kate pulled away and started to make her way to the door.

“Hey, you coming by sometime soon for some more training?” Arlo asked as she placed her hand on the door handle.

Kate turned back to look at Arlo. “I was going to this morning but I got caught up dealing with the bandit brothers with Julie, I guess I’ll have to try another day,” she said, trying to look pleasant. 

“If you’re free Thursday..”Arlo started to say.

“I can’t make any promises” Kate replied as she grabbed from the door once more. “I gotta get going, Julie is expecting me back.”

“Later then,” Arlo said as she made her way out the door. 

As Kate closed the door behind her, she stopped and leaned back against it. Her cheeks turned bright red and she became weak to the knees. She had been watching him with his tight sleeveless shirt the whole time. Kate grew a thirst for Arlo and it was strong. She hasn’t been with someone like that in over six months, her world time. She needed to get her head together. She was no use to her sister in this condition. She knew she needed to move from the door before Arlo left to do his rounds. Kate started to make her way towards the ruins and took the long way back. She took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled out her mouth. She would jump into the river if she could but that was on the other side of town past the workshop. Juliet would see her before she made it to the river. 

Kate was doing better but if she was going to continue to train with Arlo, then she was going to have to get used to seeing him with his jacket off. The air temperature was getting hotter and it would be summer soon. Kate couldn’t afford to get too attached to someone or have another fling with. She made it home to the workshop where Juliet was busy working on a commission. Kate made her way over to her and began to help so they could complete it and work on other projects.

That night there was another Fireside Meeting. The Mayor proudly announced the defeat of the Rat Prince and the Banirats who were found to be the culprits of multiple thefts in town. He personally thanked Juliet and Kate for apprehending the Banirats as well as the Civil Corps, who in Kate’s mind, didn’t do a damn thing. The Mayor made mention that he was able to get the funding for transportation in the town and there would be commissions for five Dee-Dee transportation vehicles. This meant more work for Juliet and Kate.

The next day as the girls made their way out the gate, a chick came rushing into the workshop, dashing between Kate’s legs. Emily, their neighbor came rushing up the road with a cage in hand. 

“Sorry to bother you. My chicken Sanmao ran off again! I chased it all the way here. Ah, hold on, need to catch my breath.” Emily said out of breath, bent over as she tried to catch it.

“How did it get out in the first place?” Kate asked, curiously.

“I like taking the chicks out for a walk every Saturday, just in case they get sick of being stuck in the coop. Then this one just ran off at the first opportunity! Sanmao gives me the most trouble, always trying to outrun me or out-hide me. Why these little things just couldn't stop running around?! I'm almost exhausted to death.” she explained as she tried to hold herself up.

“You relax and catch your breath, I’ll go round him up for you,” Kate said as she looked at Juliet with a smile.

Kate found the chick trying to hide behind one of the furnaces. “Come on you, let’s get you back to Emily before you turn yourself into a chicken nugget,” she said as she cupped the chick in her hands. She brought it back to Emily who placed the chick into the cage.

“Wow, you are really good at this, in such a short time as well!” Emily said, amazed by Kate’s ability to rescue the chick.

“You just got to be calm around animals,” Kate explained.

“The rest of the chicks scattered all around the road when I ran after Sanmao, can you help me capture them as well?” Emily asked

“Sure,” Kate replied. 

Juliet joined her as well this time, scooping up the chicks just in time as well. Paulie and the Civil Corps were making their way out of town to make their way down to the river. Had they not picked up the chicks in time, they could have been trampled on. Arlo noticed the girls with the chicks in hand, making their way back to Emily. He wanted to say hi but all he could do was smile. Kate was too focused on getting the chicks to Emily to notice Arlo. 

“Thank you sooo much! I couldn't have gotten through today without your help. Here, some eggs I just picked up, you can have them. It's the least I can do.” she said as she handed Juliet some more eggs to go with the eggs they got yesterday. “I'll see you later! Come on you rascals, let's go home,” she said as she picked up the cage.

At the commerce guild, Presley was excited to see the girls as he met them halfway to the Commission Board.

“Girls! I've got great news! The Mayor has secured the funding to make five Dee-Dees, these are three-wheeled transports used for short-distance travel. They will make our town much more accessible!” Presley said excitedly.

“Yeah, the Mayor mentioned about it last night at the Fireside, We were there,” Kate said

“This is a big order! The Mayor posted the five orders separately on the Commerce Guild board, you can start working on them immediately. I'm sure other Builders will be after these commissions as well. So, come on, what are you waiting for?” He said edging them on to grab one.

“Don’t worry Pres, we’ll take one,” Juliet said as she giggled.

Back home they found a letter from Petra asking the girls to come to give her a visit. She had some pointers to give that would help them complete the Dee-Dees. So the girls headed out once more to the Research Center. Petra was busy with research as usual when the girls walked in but she heard the door close and looked up to see them walk over to her.

“Oh good, you both came,” Petra said as she met them halfway.

“We left as soon as we saw your letter,” Kate said

“Since you're building the Dee-Dee Transport, you'll need something called a small engine. It's the machine that drives our cars and flies some of our planes. We don't have the know-how to craft it anymore, so we have to get them from the ruins. The problem is, they don't just lie around for people to dig up, they actually power the ancient robots still roaming somewhere in the ruins. We can only get these parts as loot off the robots. They're called the Hazardous Ruins. There's a Hazardous Ruins to the east of town, in an area we call the Collapsed Wasteland. The landscape in the wasteland is somewhat dangerous, that's why it's fenced off. You should be careful.” Petra explained to the girls.

“If it's fenced off, how do we gain access to it?” Kate asked.

“That you’ll have to ask Arlo or the other members of the Civil Corps,” Petra told them.

Kate and Juliet made their way out of the research. They now had to find a Civil Corps officer which shouldn’t be too hard because they had just finished up their Wednesday jog and were probably heading off to do patrols. They noticed Sam who was making her way through the Plaza. Juliet and Kate called out to her as they made their way over to her. They explained to her that they needed access to the Collapsed Wasteland so they could dive into the Hazardous Ruin for parts.

“Trying your luck with a Hazardous Ruin? This is a very dangerous area, you'll need to prove yourself worthy. You'll have to last a minute against a local Civil Corps officer in combat. If you can beat Arlo, Remington, or I, we’ll give you access, but you both have to do it separately.” Sam explained as she gave the girls a serious look.

“Thanks for the information Sam, we’ll catch you later,” Kate said, giving Sam a nod goodbye

“No Problem, catch you later I hope,” Sam replied with a big smile, hoping that the girls would choose her to spar with as she was looking forward to a good fight. Sadly the girls had their preferred sparring buddies. Kate was looking forward to sparring with Alro, even though they both had made a pact not to spar again until she was stronger. Though she felt like she was getting stronger, she wasn’t sure she was strong enough to face Arlo. Juliet was looking forward to trying her luck against Remington. She hadn’t sparred with anyone in town. She always took the logical approach to deal with things before going in with brute force. Though Kate tried to be balanced, she was more brute than logical. The girls decided to separate and get themselves certified to go into the ruins. 

Kate ran into Arlo by the Abandoned Ruins by the Civil Corps Building. He seemed more than happy to see her but wasn’t too pleased to hear her ask to spar again even if it was for her to gain access to the Hazardous Ruins. He was sure she could handle herself but he wasn’t sure if she was strong enough to hold her own against him. 

“Are you sure you want to spar against me? The last time didn’t end so well and we agreed we wouldn’t try again until you were stronger. We’ve only had one training together as well.” Arlo said, concerned she was asking for trouble again.

“I can handle myself,” Kate said as she looked him seriously in the eyes.

“It’s not that I don’t think you can’t handle yourself in the ruins, it’s against me I’m worried about,” Arlo explained.

“Sam said I only had to survive one minute against you, she didn’t say how,” Kate said as she grinned.

“What do you have up your sleeve?” Arlo asked as he looked at her curiously.

“Why don’t we spar so you can find out,” Kate said, beckoning him to spar with her.

“Alright, if you can survive one minute against me, then I’ll give you access,” Arlo said as he held his fists up, getting himself ready in his preferred fighting stance.

Kate set her watch to a minute and made her way over to Arlo, her hands crossed behind her. He was confused. Was she looking for him to hit here again? She wasn’t taking this seriously enough he thought but he decided to take the opportunity to strike, she dodged his punch, making her way behind him like she was dancing. Arlo turned to face her but she was already two steps ahead of him. Kate moved so much faster than the last time they sparred. He was amazed but it was more timing than speed. He tried to keep up with her but she was still two steps ahead. He couldn’t predict her moves but somehow she was predicting his. She was running circles around him, distracting him, making him dizzy. Arlo hadn’t noticed Kate had backed him up against the ruin wall. She made her move and grabbed his wrists, pushing him up against the wall, holding his wrists up by his head. Her watch beeped letting them know the minute was up. Arlo was breathing heavily as he locked eyes with her. She seemed unfazed. He was clearly still much stronger than her but he wasn’t able to outsmart her this time. Kate had caught him off guard and made him weak for a split second causing her to get the upper hand. He could break free any moment now but they both stood there, hearts pounding, sweat dripping from his forehead. Kate let go and took a step back.

“I guess I don’t have to worry too much about you in the ruins,” Arlo said, trying to catch his breath.

“See, I told you I could handle myself,” Kate said as she wiped the sweat from her face with the sleeve of her jacket. She plopped herself onto the ground, knees bent, arms resting on top. She pulled out a bottle of water from her bag and began to drink. Arlo made his way over to her, sitting down next to her, resting his back against hers.

“Why didn’t you fight like that the first time we sparred?” he asked her.

“It’s complicated, you wouldn’t understand,” Kate said as she held out her water to Arlo, offering him a drink. He took the bottle and finished off the water.

“Try me,” Arlo said as he handed her the bottle back to her.

Kate looked at the empty bottle unpleasantly, upset he had finished her water. She placed it back into her bag. “Even if I wanted to tell you, I made a vow of secrecy. You’ll just have to take my word for it.” Kate said as she got back up. 

Arlo looked at her with concern. “Alright, you can keep your secret...for now,” he said as he got up himself.

“I need to head back home, Juliet is probably already home waiting for me to show up,” Kate said as she slowly backed away.

“Right, take care then. I hope you can make it tomorrow,” Arlo said as he kept his gaze fixed on her. 

“Me too,” Kate said, giving him a wave goodbye and then running off. He waved goodbye as she ran off. She was more of a mystery to him every time he tried to learn more about her. 

At the workshop, Juliet was busy working on the first Dee Dee Transport. Kate joined in as Juliet told her about her spar with Remington that seemed to have gone pretty well. Juliet’s voice turned serious however when she asked how Kate's spar with Arlo went. Kate said she was able to pass without taking a punch, however, she left Arlo asking questions about her that she could not answer. She was upset because as their friendship grew, there would be more questions he would ask that she wouldn’t be able to answer truthfully. Juliet gave her sister a hug, trying to comfort her but she knew the pain her sister was feeling wasn’t something she could fix herself. They spent late into the night building their first Dee Dee. 

The next morning, the girls found Aadit outside their gate with Pinky the Cat. She had eaten Dawa’s key to the Tree Farm and was now not feeling well. He had a plan to get her to feel better that would get the key out of her belly but he needed a bar of soap and wondered if they could help. Juliet headed to Sophie’s for cinnamon and Kate headed to the Collapsed Wasteland for animal fat. They met back at the workshop and started crafting the soap. As soon as it was cooled down and settled, they handed it to Aadit who had a bowl of water ready. He mixed some of the soap into the water and encouraged her to drink it up. The soapy water upset her stomach and caused her to spit up the key. Quickly she went from being sick to feeling much better. She joyfully danced around Aadit’s legs, thanking him. He thanks the girls for the help and made his way back to the Tree Farm, Pinky joyfully hopping behind him

In the mail was a letter from Ginger, the Mayor’s daughter. She wanted the girls to collect some topaz for her. They had plenty stored away and grabbed some to take with them. They made their way over to the Mayor’s house where they found Ginger sitting in the living room, working on a craft.

“Hello! Thanks for coming!” Ginger said greeting the girls. “I wanted to come and visit you, but my... condition doesn't allow me to go outside too much, and I didn't want to bother you at night,” she explains.

“It’s no problem really, we’re up late most nights,” Kate tells her. She reaches into her bag and pulls out the topaz from it. “Here are those Topaz you wanted, what are you planning on doing with them?”

Ginger smiled. “Well, I do a lot of handicrafts in my free time but I can’t go outside and get my own materials so I rely on others to help,” she explained. “Oh, right, here is your pay.” Ginger reached out to Juliet with gols in her hand.

Juliet noticed the gols and closed Ginger’s hand around it. “Don’t worry about it, this one’s on the house and if you ever need anything else in the future, just ask us,” Juliet told her.

Ginger pushed the gols into Kate’s hand. “Thank you, but I insist.”

Juliet smiled, knowing there was no way she could refuse Ginger so she took the gols. The girls left Ginger to finish her craft and made their way out of the house. 

Outside Juliet asked Kate to the run-up to the Clinic for ointment so they could run into the Hazardous Ruins later. Kate’s eyes shot wide open when she realized with all that happened this morning, she forgot Arlo wanted her to train with him this morning. She became upset because she was actually looking forward to it but now it was too late in the day. Arlo was probably getting done and ready to go on patrol through the town. 

Kate made her way up the hill slowly, dreading the fact Portia was made on a hill. As Kate reached the top she found Arlo, standing in front of the Flying Pigs Statue, bowing to it. To her, in that moment, he looked like a Prince or a Knight, very regal and noble. She tried to make it without him noticing her but he had just turned at that moment and caught her in the corner of his eye.

“You didn’t show up again, I’m starting to think you’re avoiding me on purpose,” Arlo called out to her.

Kate turned to look at him. “No that’s not it,” she said shaking her head. “Sorry, Aadit stopped by early this morning. Pinky ate a key to the tree farm and it made her very sick. He needed our help.” she replied.

“Oh,” Arlo sighed. “Well, maybe another time,” he replied. He started to make his way towards the ramp down to Central Plaza. 

“Will I see you tomorrow at the Celebration tomorrow?” Kate asked, watching him walk away.

Arlo turned to look back at her and smiled. ”Of course,” he turned back and walked down the hill.

Kate made her way into the Clinic. Phyllis was inside working on an antidote but noticed Kate making her way in and stopped what she was doing. “Kate, I heard you got permission from the Civil Corps to go into the Collapsed Wasteland! Not an easy feat for a Builder! Did you have a hard time?” Phyllis asked as she met her halfway through the room. 

A devilish smile rolled across Kate’s face. “Arlo is definitely stronger than me but I was able to hold my own against him long enough to pass,” she explained.

“Don't be too careless, the toxic substances in that sewage plant can be especially deadly. But I've got your back, so don't worry too much. And if that's not enough, I can use acupuncture to help you re-adjust your condition.” she said with a big smile on her face.

Kate swore that the girl really loved to hear herself talk about acupuncture.“Thanks but no thank you, Phyllis, I think I’m good without being poked.” Kate squirmed at the thought of needles.

“Your loss,” Phyllis giggled “By the way, since you've been to one of the Hazardous Ruins, I'm wondering if you could help me out. I'm working on a general antidote, and need some Venom samples. Can you find some for me? I'll make it worth your while.”

“Sure, Juliet and I are heading there later, I was just stopping by for some ointment for our dive,” Kate said with a smile.

“Perfect!” Phyllis said joyfully.

Kate made her purchase for ointment and made her way out of the Clinic. She made her way back down to Peach Plaza where she ran into Arlo again but this time they only exchanged a quick smile before both heading off in different directions. Kate walked into the workshop where Juliet was working on a commission from the guild. As soon as she was done, the girls left to deliver it and head into the Hazardous Ruins.

They spent three hours in the ruin diving for parts. I was an old Sewage Plant from the world before the war. The creatures down there were disfigured and the smell was that of a mix of rotten fish and eggs. There were many rooms to walk through. In the end, there was a big boss creature. As usual, Kate and Juliet danced around it, taking it down when it was weak enough.

The girls made out at nightfall and walked back into town. They found Phyllis in Central Plaza where they dropped off the venom sample, She was really grateful and handed them each some ointment and antidotes for the next time they made it into the Hazardous Ruins.


	9. Popular

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate has become a little more popular in town and the side effects of it are starting to take effect. Can she keep up with the demand of the town and keep her secret safe?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. We're a few chapters away from learning more about Kate and Juliet. Things are about to get wild...

Chapter 9: Popular

The nineteenth day of Spring was a festive occasion for Portia. It was the Day of The Bright Sun, a celebration of joy, peace, and happiness. They celebrated Peach, the hero who ended the 330 years long Age of Darkness around a hundred years ago. In Portia, they celebrated by dropping gifts from an airship as the town below rushed to collect the gifts. 

Kate and Juliet arrived in Peach Plaza where the Mayor would be giving his speech. They cleaned up for the occasion and put on Semi Formal Outfits. It was rare to see Kate in a dress or skirt. Arlo was in the plaza, gathered around his fellow officers when he noticed Kate and Juliet walking into town. He had cleaned himself up a bit as well. Instead of his Civil Corps Jacket, he wore a leather jacket with a white button-up underneath, his collar popped open. A newsboy cap sat neatly on his messy head of hair. Arlo pardoned himself from the group and made his way over to Kate as she reached the crowd. Juliet continued into the crowd as Kate stopped to talk to Arlo.

“You look..nice today,” Arlo said, trying to compliment Kate without giving her the wrong idea.

“You look nice as well,” Kate said, trying to be polite.

Sam made her way over to them and grabbed Kate by the arm as she approached. “Kate, you and Juliet should come and stand with us over at the opening ceremonies,” Sam said with a devious smile.

“Oh...okay,” Kate said as Sam began to pull her over to where Remington was standing, who was already talking with Juliet.

“Oh good, you’re already here Juliet,” Sam said as she approached both Remington and Juliet.

Arlo followed behind them. He wasn’t sure what Sam was up to and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out either.

“Hello Sam, is there something you need?” Juliet asked as she noticed Sam dragging her sister around. 

“No, I just thought you two would enjoy hanging out with us during the opening ceremonies. The Mayor’s opening speech can be so boring, it’s been the same speech for many years.”

“Haha...Oh come on Sam, it's not that bad,” Remington laughed.

“Still, the extra company is appreciated,” Arlo added.

Sam nodded cheerfully agreeing with Arlo. “But when the presents start dropping, you better watch out because that's when the real fun starts, and the compassion to see who can get the most gifts is on!” she explained.

“Wow Sam, you really take this present collecting seriously don’t you?” Kate asked as she giggled at Sam.

“You have no clue,” Arlo chuckled.

“The whole town gets really competitive really, only a handful of townspeople choose not to participate and stand on the sideline,” Remington explained.

The Mayor cleared his throat and began to speak. He explained the history and significance of today. He explained the events that were to take place and wished everyone a good time. He left the podium and made his way to the sidelines. The crowd started to disperse into different areas of the plaza, plotting out where would be the best place to get presents. 

Kate and Juliet gave each other a quick nod and separated to different ends of the plaza. As the airship approached the crowd started to congregate into one spot. Kate and Juliet stayed within the perimeter of the crowd. Presents began to drop and rolled past the crowd. As the crowds chased after them, Kate and Juliet were already there picking them up. As they followed the airship through the town, they would make sure they stayed within a few feet of the crowd.

Arlo noticed the girls and their strategy. It was brilliant, why didn’t he think of that. He made his way to the out edge of the crowd and followed behind Kate. He wanted to have a little fun with her. As she went for a present, he went for it as well. Kate clutched the gift as she found a pair of hands clutching hers. She blushed as she looked up to see Arlo. She turned away and pushed the gift to him. He went to push it back to her, but she was already walking away and the crowd was rushing by, making it hard to grab her back over to him.

When the airship finished dropping gifts, the town followed it out the Eastern Gate, watching it fly off out of town. Arlo made his way out of the Gate to find Kate who was standing with her sister watching the airship fly off. The sunset’s golden raise made her face glow as she turned back to look at him. He stopped himself in his tracks. He was going to return the gift to her but he was captured by her beauty. The crowd started making their way back into town as they still stood staring at each other. Kate was admiring how his hair shines bright in the sun's warm glow. Her sister pulled on her arm to move her along. Arlo broke his gaze and turned back into town. Everyone in town was meeting up for the Yearly Spring Town Photo in Central Plaza. They got into place on the photo stand with Juliet and Kate standing in the middle of the crowd. As soon as everyone was ready, the photographer took the photo. When they were done, the crowd dispersed. The Mayor asked the girls for a photo with his family, which they happily agreed to. As they tried to leave, Petra asked the girls if they cared for a Photo with her and Merlin. They were starting to think this town loves taking pictures. After a picture with the Research Team, they headed home. Sonia, Emily, and Antione stood outside the Restaurant and called Juliet and Kate over. They too wanted a photo with the girls. They agreed once more to another photo. After they got a photo with the trio, Juliet and Kate decided it was time to get out of town before someone else came looking for them to take photos with. 

It was night by the time they got home. The moon shined as bright as the sun was earlier in the day. Today reminded Kate of Summer Solstice. Though it wasn’t celebrated like this. Kate leaned over the fence as she watched the moon as Juliet tended to the machines and furnaces. 

“Little Goddess, what are you thinking about over there,” Juliet called to her sister.

“The moon is so pretty tonight,” Kate said as she gazed dreamingly up at it.

“I suppose it is, isn’t it,” Juliet replied. “Say, earlier, Arlo and you were staring at each other. Is there something going on I need to know about,” she asked.

“No,” Kate said as her cheek turned a rose color. “At least, I don’t think so.”

Juliet finished placing wood into the furnaces and made her way over to Kate. She leaned up against the fence post as well. Together the pair watched the moon and stars. A star shot through the sky. Kate closed her eyes and made a wish for true happiness.

“What are you doing?” Juliet asked her sister.

“Making a wish on a shooting star,” Kate explained.

Juliet was confused, she had never heard of such a thing. “Why would you wish on a shooting star?” she asked.

“Humans do it when they want something to come true, they used to believe their wish would be carried to the heavens on the star and the gods would answer their wish,” Kate explained to her sister.

“What did you wish for?” Juliet asked.

“I can’t tell you or it won’t come true,” Kate said with a big smile on her face.

“That’s silly,” Juliet giggled.

On the other side of town, Arlo was heading into the Civil Corps, he stopped to look up to the moon when he saw the shooting star. He too made a wish that night on the same star. He wanted to get to know Kate better, understand why she acted so strangely and why he was so drawn to her. She was still a mystery to him and for some reason, he still craved to know her more. There was something special about her. He headed inside and made his way to bed. He tried to sleep but he couldn’t keep his mind off the mysterious beauty, Kate.

Kate woke up as the sun peeked through the windows of the house. She made her way to her wardrobe and picked out her outfit for the day. She felt a little adventurous today and picked out a short black skirt with shorts and a white button-up blouse with a forest green leather jacket. She looked like she was really to explore the Peripheries.

Kate made her way over to the corner where they had set up a little kitchen area for themselves and began to make breakfast for Juliet and her. Juliet woke up to the smell of eggs frying. She sat up and saw Kate dressed and making breakfast.

“You look cute today,” Juliet commented as she got up out of bed.

“Hehe, I wasn’t going for cute..” Kate said nervously.

Juliet made her way to the wardrobe to get dressed. “I’m surprised you didn’t go training with Arlo this morning,”

“I wasn’t in the mood,” Kate answered, flipping the eggs over in the pan.

“I thought you enjoyed training with Arlo?” Juliet asked as she took her nightclothes off.

“I do, but..” Kate started to say but she couldn’t finish 

“But what?” Juliet asked as she pulled a t-shirt over her head. She picked up her jeans and quickly pulled them on. She walked over to her sister who was plating the eggs.  
“I don’t know, I guess I’m being silly again,” Kate said as she placed the pan down onto the stove.

Juliet grabbed her sister by the shoulders and gave her a stern look. “You’re going to make your way over to the Civil Corps right now and you’re going to go train with that boy, okay!”

Kate pulled away from Juliet and placed the pan back on the stovetop. “I would Julie, but there’s too much to do already today,” she told her sister.

“What are you talking about, it’s Saturday, There are no commissions on the weekend,” Juliet asked.

“But we have the Dee-Dee to make,” Kate added.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” Juliet told her.

“Even if I am, Aadit, Albert, and Sam are all looking for me today,” Kate explained. She could sense more and more when the people in town were looking for her. That was something happening more frequently as well. “I just don’t have the time to run off and do whatever I want,” she explained.

“Alright,” Juliet frowned. “You’re the boss. We can go do some inspection at the guild.”

After breakfast, Kate and Juliet made their way to the mailbox before heading to the Commerce Guild. In the mailbox was a letter from Issac asking them to make him a stone table and stools so he could enjoy a game of Cross Five, off the ground. Kate and Juliet quickly ran into the yard to the workshop to craft Issac’s order.

In front of the Commerce GuildJuliet and Kate were greeted by Albert who was looking for Kate. She had been talking with him often about workshop upgrades. He had become well acquainted with him. 

“Hey, Kate!” Albert said, waving her down as the two girls approached the guild.

Kate wasn’t surprised to see him. “What up Albert?” Kate asked him.

“You seem like the sociable gal, you got a minute to help me out with something?” Albert asked.

“I’m not busy with any big projects currently, sure,” Kate replied.

“Great, I knew I could count on you,” Albert said cheerfully. “So here’s the thing. You know Gust right? Tall guy, long hair, standoffish. He and I go way back which is why I moved to Portia to open A and G Construction. Well, Gust has this once in a lifetime Beauty of a sister named Ginger. The only problem is, she doesn’t go outside too often.” he explained.

“Why’s that?” Kate asked

“Supposedly she has a health condition. I’m not too sure about the details and when I ask Gust about it, he tends to brush me off, which is where you come in. I need you to track down Ginger and learn more about her for me and come back to me when you have learned more.” Albert explained. 

“Alright, I’ll go check in with her after Juliet and I check in with the guild,” Kate replied.

“Fantastic, I’ll be waiting,” Albert said cheerfully. He waved goodbye and started making his way back to his shop.

“Well aren’t you Little Miss Popular,” Juliet commented. 

“Yeah...if you want to step this one out, I’ll be okay going alone,” Kate told Juliet.

“Are you sure?” Juliet asked.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love having you with me while we learn more about the town but it would be pointless to have both of us out of the workshop,” Kate explained.

“Yeah, you’re right. How about we drop this table off to Isaac first and then you can head off and find Ginger after. I'll head into the guild and do some inspections then head back to the workshop to work on that Dee-Dee.”

“Alright,” Kate replied.

The two girls made their way into the park where they found Isaac on the ground already in the midst of a game between himself.

“About time you two showed up, even Death would have had it done and set up by now,” Isaac said as he continued on with his game, not even blinking an eye.

Juliet and Kate looked at each other in confusion. “I beg your pardon,” Juliet said in shock.

“Did I stutter?” Isaac asked.

“No sir, it’s just, why would you be talking about Death?” Kate asked.

“Don’t play dumb with me. You don’t get to live as long as me in our day in age without knowing Death. Your father is a good Cross Five player but good at losing as well.” Isaac explained.

“How did you know we’re Death’s daughters?” Juliet asked

“Your father sent me a message before you came asking me to keep an eye out for you two. Also told me not to let you know that I knew who you were or that you were coming, but I’m too old for secrets anymore.” Isaac explained as he stood up.

“Why didn’t you say something before,” Kate asked.

“It didn’t come up. This is the first time you two girls have been near me in a semi-private part of town.” Isaac told them as he picked up his game. “Now, if you two are done asking me a million questions, you can start setting up the table and chairs.”

Kate and Juliet looked at each other again. They weren’t done. They had a million more questions to ask. “We’ll set the table up for you but we still have more questions to ask,” Juliet told him.

“Alright, I’ll make you a deal, you set the table up and every time you come to the park to play a game of Cross Five with me, I’ll answer a few questions,” Isaac told them.

“That sounds like a deal,” Kate said as she held her hand out to shake his. He looked at her puzzled at first but then shook her hand. 

Kate and Juliet quickly moved the table into place, grabbing the stools after to place them on opposite sides. It was an easy job with a long-running reward. As they stepped back to look at the job well done, they could hear a voice calling from over behind them. 

“Yo Kate!” Sam called out to her across the Park.

Kate turned around to see Sam, waving her down, rushing over to them. “What’s up Sam?” she asked.

“Let’s spar!” Sam demands Kate.

“Um...why?” Kate asked. Confused on why she all of the sudden needed to spar with her.

“Why? Because we live in a Frontier town and Arlo made mention that you two have been training. So I want to see how good you are. He seems very impressed by you.”

“He said that?” Kate said, blushing.

“Yup, now come on! Let’s head over to Central Plaza where there is plenty of room.” Sam said cheerfully, waving Kate to follow her as she raced towards the Plaza.

Kate turned to Juliet who was already chuckling to herself. “Go on,” Juliet told her.

Kate smiled and started making her way to the plaza, taking her time following behind Sam. Did Arlo really tell her about their training session? What else does he tell her? 

Sam was eagerly waiting for her as she approached. “Come on slowpoke!” Sam yelled as she stood ready to fight. 

“Alright, alright, calm down. I’m here.” Kate said as she got into a fighting stance.

Everyone around seemed to be excited as they gathered around to watch. Sparring was practically a sport here. “Ready?” Sam asked

“Ready when you are?” Kate replied.

Sam started things off quickly as she flew right at Kate with punches and a high kick. Kate frantically dodged her. Trying to stay on her feet. She was quite amazed by Sam. As Sam slammed the ground with her kick, Kate could see the cracks in the ground caused by the force. She wasn’t going easy and neither was Kate. As Sam tried to lunge back at her, Kate moved out of the way and struck with a counter offense. She quickly slid under Sam and sung her leg under her, tripping up Sam who wasn’t expecting her. Kate jumped back up and swung for her chin, dropping her down onto her butt. 

Sam looked up at Kate who was now holding out her hand to help her up. “Damn Kid, you really do know how to fight,” Sam told her as she grabbed her hand

Kate pulled her up, helping her feet. “You didn’t disappoint either,” Kate replied.

“Thanks for sparring with me. I really needed a good challenge. I’m constantly having to train to keep up with Arlo and Remy, They're real freaks of nature.”

“No problem, if you ever want a rematch, you know where to find me,” Kate told her.

Sam smiled. “I’ll hold you to it.”

Kate looked up at the landing above the School. Arlo was there, leaning over the railing, watching the whole time. Sam noticed Kate had turned her attention to him. 

“You should go see him,” Sam told her. “He really enjoys training with you, ya know. I swear every other morning he’s at the door waiting for you to show up,” she explained.

“Yeah, I suppose I owe him an apology for not showing up this morning,” Kate replied.

Sam patted Kate on the shoulder and then started making her way back to her patrol. Kate made her way up the stairs to Arlo who was still leaning on the railing, now back turned from her. Almost as if he was waiting for her but didn’t want to make it seem obvious. She reached the top and made her way over to him, leaning up against the rail next to him.

“That was a good match against Sam,” He told her, not giving her a glance. “Remind me to never get on your bad side.”

“I’m sorry for not showing up to training earlier.” Kate apologized.

“Don’t sweat it, I know you’re busy with the workshop,” Arlo told her.

“Sam said you really enjoy training with me,” Kate said with a grin.

“Did she now,” Arlo questioned as he turned to look at her. “I guess I don’t hate it.”

“You guess,” Kate chuckled, giving him a hard time. 

Arlo laughed as his cheeks blushed. What did she expect him to say? The truth? He really did enjoy his training sessions with her but they barely knew each other and yet he was feeling like he was being drawn to her. 

“I’ve gotta get going, I’ve got business to attend to at the Mayor’s home,” Kate told him as she pushed herself up off the railing and started towards Gale’s house.

“Right, I should head back to my patrol,” Arlo told her as he got up as well.

Kate waved to him goodbye as she walked away. Arlo waved back, smiling as he watched her make her way into the Mayor’s house. Inside Kate found Ginger sitting in an armchair in the living room. 

“Ms. Ginger, sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask you a few things to get to know you better,” Kate said as she made her way over to Ginger.

“Oh, hello there! You want to learn more about me? That's so kind of you!” Ginger said smiling as Kate sat down on the couch next to her.

“I heard you have a health condition that doesn’t allow you to go out into the sun from someone in town, is it true?.” Kate explained.

“I do have a health condition that makes it hard to go outside. But that's okay, I've developed a few hobbies that I can do inside. Namely, I like to read, and I like to craft little trinkets. I feel that education and creativity are beautiful things that are available to all the people under any Light.” Ginger explained to Kate.

“That's unfortunate. Are there any books you are looking forward to reading?” Kate asked.

“Come to think of it, I've been looking for a book called 'Journey to the East.’ I know it's a classic, but it's so hard to find! The story sounds so dreamy, though...One day I'd like to go on a grand adventure like that.” Ginger replied. “Why do you ask?” Ginger asked her.

“Oh, no particular reason...Thanks for answering my questions...I’ve got to get going. I need to meet with a friend…” Kate said as she got up and made her way to the door.

Ginger was confused but waved goodbye to Kate as she made a swift exit. Kate ran back down to Peach Plaza to A and G Construction where she found Albert waiting for her inside. He was happy to see her. He knew it meant she had talked to Ginger already. Kate explained to him about Ginger and what she told her.

“A reading girl, huh? That's good, I like'em smart.” Albert said chuckling to himself. “Come to think of it, I think you can get that book over at The Round Table, Django's restaurant. You might have to play a game or two, but that's no big deal when you're helping a friend like me, right?”

Kate reached into her bag and pulled out the ‘Journey to the East’. She had managed to grab a present yesterday that had the book in it. Her plan was to give it to Juliet as a gift sometime in the future but she knew helping Albert would benefit them in the future more. “I already have the book. I managed to get one yesterday at the festival. I was planning on giving it to my sister but if you think you really have a chance with Ginger, then here you go,” Kate said as she handed it over to him. 

Albert was surprised by her generosity but grateful as well. “Thank you so much,” he said cheerfully. “With this book in hand, I'm off to impress the girl of my dreams!”

Kate made her way home to Juliet where together they spent the rest of the day working on projects. Kate told her about her day out alone and the things she learned. She mentioned the book and how disappointed she was that she couldn’t give her the book but she was hoping to get another copy someday even if it meant saving up tokens from the game room and getting it for her. Juliet appreciated her sister's effort but told her not to worry too much about it.


	10. Siblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whether it's fighting the Bandit Brothers or between each other, Kate and Juliet must deal with the stress of hiding their identity from the town of Portia.

Chapter 10: Siblings

The next morning Juliet and Kate woke up bright and early. They were expecting guests. Kate prepared breakfast for the two of them. Juliet was starting to enjoy having her sister around to cook. She was better at then her and it was always good. It was the one thing they had in common with their father, the love of food. Fried, sweet, sour, sour, or spicy, it didn’t really matter. They enjoyed it. That was the only thing Kate missed about traveling across the universe. Street food was always available. 

Juliet and Kate went outside after breakfast where they found Huss and Tuss out there waiting for them. “How do you do, Builder! Do you have the money to pay off your debts?” Tuss said standing at the gate with Huss as the girls made their way over to him.

“We know who you two really are, and we won’t let you get away with trying to trick us!” Kate said, pointed at them with a stern look. Juliet stood next to her arms crossed, ready for whatever comes next.

Tuss was shocked. How dare they try to foil his plans.”Why you! Get’em!” Tuss ordered Huss. The brothers tried to lunge at the girls, trying to attack them but they dodged before the two could even get near them. Kate made a swift punch into the jaw of Huss, knocking him back. Juliet kicked Tuss in the stomach, causing him to fall down onto his bottom. As Kate and Juliet prepared to finish them off, Arlo arrived. 

Arlo approached and stood at the gate, arms crossed behind his back with his chest puffed out. “Good Day Gentlemen.”

The brothers looked at each other. “Arrlloooo?” Tuss said nervously.

“What do we do boss?” Huss asked his brother.

“Picking on a newcomer, now that’s pretty low. You guys are under arrest.” Arlo said to them,

Tuss stood up and headed towards the Harbor “Run away!” He ordered Huss, who followed behind.

Arlo leaped forward and sprinted behind them. “Get back here!” he shouted out to them as he chased them.

Kate watched Arlo run off into the distance. It was almost graceful. Juliet looked at her sister and smiled, walking away and making her way back into the yard to make a few more Dee-Dees. Kate noticed her sister had left out on the road alone by the time Arlo was out of view. An object caught her eye down at the ground. It was a small box. Kate walked over to pick it up to see it was a crafter’s toolbox. She wondered if it was Huss and Tuss who dropped it or Arlo. Walking it back into the yard as she made her way to her sister.

“What’s that?” Juliet asked as she crafted a seat to the dee at the workbench.

“It’s a crafter’s toolbox, someone must have dropped it outside our gate during our tussle with the brothers. But I’m not sure who dropped it.”

“You think Arlo dropped it?” Juliet asked.

“Well, I can ask him. He did come to our aid, even if we had it handled, He also scared them off causing them to give him a chase…” Kate explained. “Maybe I can give him a thank you gift. I do have my old bronze sword in the gift box. Arlo seemed to like the practice sword I made him and I have no need for a bronze sword when I have the iron sword now.” 

Juliet smiled at her sister. “That sounds like a good idea. If you’re leaving, can you pick up some fresh fish from Tody’s fish stall while you are out?” she asked.

Kate made her way over to the storage marked as gifts where she found the bronze sword. “Sure, anything else while I’m out?” she asked.

“No, just don’t be out too late, okay?” Juliet asked. “I plan on finishing the last Dee Dees so we can start the Dee Dee stops next.” 

Kate made her way to Tody’s fish stall first. She knew Arlo wouldn’t make it back into town so fast. This would give her some time to think of what to say. She didn’t want to sound ungrateful but she also didn’t want to sound like a weak pathetic princess. Tody was happy to see her. Juliet and she have become his favorite regulars because they usually buy the most fish from him. In fact, Kate and Juliet’s diet mostly consist of fish and plant-based since they arrived in Portia. 

After practically buying out Tody’s entire stock of fresh fish, Kate made her way through town at a slow pace. She didn’t really know where to find Arlo, she could try to see if he was up at the Civil Corps, still booking Huss and Tuss or he could be collecting power stone for the town like she always does every Sunday. If he did manage to do the latter, he would be in the Church Ruin. It was almost noon when usually would leave the ruin and make his way to the Research Center. She still wasn’t sure though, What if he planned to make up lost time from this morning’s events and was going to take longer. She headed towards the ruins anyway. There was only one way to know. 

Kate waited for Arlo outside the ruin, pacing the ground. The Church bell rang at the stroke of noon and she became nervous. A few minutes passed and still no Arlo. She began to worry. She turned to look at the town. It was still and calm. She was startled when a hand reached out for her shoulder. She turned to see it was Arlo.

The expression on Kate’s face told Arlo she had been waiting for him a while. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

Kate’s cheeks turned red as she worked her courage to speak. “I came to thank you for helping out with Huss and Tuss, I was hoping to run into you here,” she explained.

“Be more careful next time with the two bandit brothers. They have a tendency to do stupid things,” Arlo told her.

Kate was a little upset to hear Arlo lecture her but she tried her best to brush it off. “Juliet and I can handle ourselves,” she explained. 

Arlo wasn’t surprised to hear her say this but it still hurt to think he may have offended her in some way. “I’m just glad you two are okay,” he told her.

Kate reached for the craftsman’s toolbox out of her bag and held it in her hands. “I found this on the ground after you chased off after the bandit brothers, is it yours?” she asked.

Arlo was surprised to see the toolbox in her hands. He must have dropped it as he chased after the brothers. “Oh...I was planning on giving that to you...It was in the gift box we both grabbed for during the festival...I have no need for it so I thought you might like it,” he told her.

Kate’s cheeks turned red again. “Thank you,” she replied. She placed the toolbox back into her bag and reached for the bronze sword on her back, holding it out to Arlo. “I want to give you this as a thank you for dealing with the brothers. I made this sword for myself a while back but I don’t need it anymore.” 

Arlo grabbed the sword and looked at it. He remembered seeing this sword on her back as she came out of the sewer ruins after defeating the Rat Prince. He placed the sword back into her hands. “I can’t take this, it holds too many memories of your adventures for me to keep.”

Kate grabbed his hand before he could pull away and placed the sword back into his hands as their hands touched. “I’d rather see this sword continue collecting more memories than collecting dust,” she told him. Arlo looked her in the eyes, giving her a nod of understanding.

They stood there for a short moment but it felt longer to both of them. She pulled away in embarrassment. “I better get going. I need to store this fish and help my sister,” she told him.

“Right, I need to get these power stones to the Research Center, I’ll catch you later,” Arlo said as he turned away. He looked over his shoulder before leaving. “Thanks for the sword. I’ll make sure it gets plenty more memories,” 

Arlo walked away as Kate turned to make her way home. She grabbed the toolbox out of her bag and looked at it. She couldn’t believe he gave her a gift. She wasn’t expecting it. As she walked back into the yard. Juliet noticed her still holding the toolbox.

“No luck on finding the owner yet?” Juliet asked.

Kate looked up at her sister, cheeks still red. “No, Arlo gave me it. He was planning on it before he dropped it,” she explained.

“Oh. that's nice of him. What are going to do with it?” Juliet asked.

“I think I’m going to put it in the house for safekeeping. I’ve got to put the fish away in the fridge anyway,” Kate told her sister as she made her way to the front door.

“Alright, but hurry up. I still need your help with the Dee-Dees” Juliet told her.

Kate made her way into the house, walking over to her bed. Her nightstand was empty except for her journal. She carefully placed it there and placed her journal on to.

The next day Juliet and Kate made their way into town to pick their order from Carol’s shop. Carol was away from the shop, doing her morning exercises with Martha in the plaza, but her husband, Mars was watching both shops and happy to help, chatting her ear off as he helped her.

“Even though we live right by the sea, I haven't eaten any fish in weeks! Every day I have to look after my shop, so I can't go fishing.” Mars explained as he handed the order to Juliet. “Hey, Can you bring me some?” he asked them.

Kate reached in her bag for a couple of Catfish rolled up in a newspaper, handing it to Mars. “I had a feeling I would be needing this,” she told him. “I’m glad I took this with me.”

Mars was excited. He didn’t even question why she thought she would need it. He took the fish and handed her some gold. “I’m having fish stew tonight!” he said cheerfully.

Kate smiled and nodded goodbye. She was thankful everyone here seemed dumb enough not to question why Juliet and she were so well prepared for them. The only ones she knew that she couldn’t pull this off was the Civil Corps. They were trained not to overlook something. She was amazed that she was able to make it this far without Arlo asking questions. She knew she needed to be more careful. 

Juliet and Kate made it home to find their mailbox knocked down off its post. The post had been split into pieces. “I guess Huss and Tuss paid us a visit while we were away,” Kate said as she picked up the debris and the note Huss and Tuss left.

Juliet made her way into the yard as Kate followed behind. “Well, you’ve read the book. You know what you need to do.” Juliet told her. “In the meantime, I’ll fix the mailbox and place the first Dee Dee Stop not too far from our house.”

“You sure you can handle doing that all alone?” Kate asked.

“Yeah, as I said, it’s not too far from the house. Plus you need to play the damsel in distress for our White Knight.” Juliet told her.

“Right…” Kate said as she cringed. “Why can’t you do it?”

“Because the book said you’d have a better outcome than I would,” Juliet explained.

Kate let out a big sigh of disappointment. “Right…” she replied.

Kate made her way up to the Civil Corps, trying to get herself to seem very worried and upset, trying to think of something that would make her distraught. She found Arlo outside, bowing to the statue of a pig with wings in front of the Civil Corps. Kate had seen him do this once before and didn’t understand it. Was there a pig deity here she didn’t know of? She took a deep breath in and out.

Kate ran over to Arlo, tripping into his arms as she approached him. He looked into her eyes as he helped her stand up straight again. Her face with distress and worry. “What happened? You look troubled.” He asked with a concerned look as he held her.

Kate reached into her bag, grabbing the note she had picked up. “Someone smashed my mailbox and they left this note,” she told Arlo, handing him the note.

Arlo read the note, looking it over with a knee eye. “Threats and the destruction of property? This is a serious crime. Do you know anyone who might dislike you enough to do something like this?” he asked.

“Higgins maybe?” Kate said unsure.

“Right, you two are pretty tough competitors…” Arlo said as he thought about it. “Thank you for coming forward, Kate. We'll start looking into this immediately.” He told her, trying to reassure her hoping it would comfort her.

Kate smiled at him. “Thank you, Arlo,” Kate said, but inside her head, she was gagging at her performance. Arlo was still holding onto her arms. This was probably the longest they had been this close. Kate’s cheeks started to glow red. She pulled away when she realized it. 

Arlo watched her pull away. “Are you alright?” he asked.

Kate gave him a quick glance as she tried to calm herself down. “I’m fine, just a little flustered. I need to go home and rest for a moment, that's all,” she told him. 

Arlo reached out for her arm. “Let me walk you home,” he said to her as he grabbed it. “To make sure you get there alright,”

Kate pushed his hand away. “I’ll be fine on my own, you’ve done enough for me already,” she explained. 

Before Arlo could say something she was gone, making her way down the hill. He watched her until she was out of sight. He was worried about her. He had never seen her so shaken up before. She usually was strong and unphased. Something didn’t add up.

The workshop was busy as the girls worked on the Dee-Dee stops that evening and the next day. However, it was very uneventful in the town the next day. When they were waiting on ore or parts from the machines, they spent it mining, diving, or felling trees. Kate didn’t go training with Arlo or looking for him in the town. She worked hard alongside Juliet. It wasn’t until the next day, Wednesday that Juliet and Kate got a letter from Emily, their neighbor. Her watermelons were ripe and she wanted to share her harvest with the girls. Kate was a big fan of watermelon so she was looking forward to visiting her after they got their commission from the guild. As the two made their way into town, they found Sophie, Emily’s grandmother pacing in front of the Western Gate.

Sophie notices the girls walking her way. “Oh! Good day!” she said, greeting the girls.

“Are you okay ma’am?’ Juliet asked

“I'm sorry, I'm getting forgetful in my old age. I must have misplaced my basket somewhere in town, but I don't know where to look. Can you help me?” Sophie asks sweetly.

Kate smiles at Sophie and nods. “Don't worry ma'am, we'll find it for you. Where were you last?” she asks her.

Sophie smiles back at her. “That's very kind of you! I was delivering some milk to Portia School, I probably left it there,” she explains. 

Juliet and Kate headed towards the other side of town to Central Plaza where the school was located. Outside they could see Ms. Lucy and the triplets standing out front of the school.

“Have you seen a basket around by any chance?” Juliet asked Lucy as the two girls approached them.

“You mean Granny Sophie’s basket? Yeah, it was right...oh where did it go?” Lucy said as she looked around her.

The triplets giggled. “Toby just tossed it onto the roof!” Molly told Lucy.

“He said he was really strong!” Dolly explained.

“I double-dog dared him…” Polly said.

Lucy looked shocked. “What?! Toby!” she shouted. “I’m sorry, you’ll need to find a way to get up on the roof.”

“Haha...It’s okay Lucy, I’ll manage.” Kate told her laughing.

Kate was used to roof hopping. She’s trained with many in the ways of parkour. At this point, she was a master. Kate ran up the stairs that went up to the second level of the town. They ran alongside the school building. At a running start, she jumped from the stairs to the school. Everyone down below was watching her. Even Paulie and the Civil Corps had stopped in the midst of their jog to watch her. Kate grabbed the basket and turned around to see that everyone had their eyes on her. She didn’t know what to do. The smart thing to do was to take the safe way down back the way she came but she had the urge to show off. Only, if she did, it would cause her and Juliet more attention than they needed. Arlo was there, staring up at her. She wanted to show off to him. She looked to her sister who had an annoyed look on her face. Kate took a running start and a jump off the roof into the crowd, landing on her feet and one hand on the ground. As she stood up the crowd clapped.

Kate had landed in front of Arlo on purpose. He was impressed but more worried. He was the only one in the crowd not clapping. “You could have gotten yourself or others hurt doing stupid stuff like that,” he told her.

The crowd dispersed at the sound of Arlo soldering Kate. The tone in his voice let them know he wasn’t in the mood for such Tom foolery happening in his town. Kate stared him down as he looked back at her. “I’ve told you before, I can handle myself,” she told him.

Arlo looked down at her with a stern gaze. “I’m letting off with a warning this time because we’re friends but next time you won’t be so lucky,” he told her.

Kate was angry. How dare he speak to her like she was a child. Juliet rushed over to her sister, tugging Kate’s arm trying to pull her away. “Let’s go, before you do something you’ll regret,” she said, dragging Kate towards Main Street.

Kate turned to follow Juliet who let go of her sister. Kate stormed off, heading back to the workshop. Juliet followed behind her. As they reached outside of town by the workshop, Kate began to rant.

“Who the fuck does he think he is!” Kate shouted. “I’m a higher being than him!”

Juliet grabbed her sister and wrapped her hand around Kate’s mouth. “Shhh! Are you crazy! Someone will hear you!” she said quietly.

Kate pushed Juliet off of her and stomped towards Sophie’s Ranch. “Good! I’m so sick of hiding who I really am from everyone!” she told her.

Juliet followed behind her. “Don’t you mess this up for me!” Juliet told her. “This mission is my chance to get back on dad’s good graces. We need to stick to the book.” 

If Kate wasn’t angry before, she was now. She stopped to look at Juliet. “Father?! Is that all you care about is how that old man sees you? You practically raised yourself because of that man. Anyone can be a father but only a real man can be a dad.” Kate shouted.

Juliet looked down at the ground ashamed and angry. Her sister didn’t understand. Kate didn’t grow up in the Veil. Things aren’t the same there as in the human world. Death is always busy. People are always dying and there is no time to stop, he hardly had any time for her and Juliet understood this. Her whole life she was prepared to take Death’s spot should something happen. 

Arlo and the other Civil Corps officers had just finished their run with Paulie. As they started to make their way back into town, Remington noticed the stern look on Arlo’s face. He jabbed Sam in the ribs and pointed to Arlo who was storming ahead. “You okay man?’ he asked.

“Who does she think she is pulling a stunt like that?” Arlo started to rant.

Remington laughed at Arlo as he and Sam caught up to him. “Relax man, it’s done and dealt with,” he said, placing his hand on Arlo’s shoulder.

“Remy is right, it’s not like anyone got hurt,” Sam said cheerfully.

“No, but she could have easily been,” Arlo explained.

Sam and Remington looked at each other concerned. This was unusual behavior for Arlo. He’s always been protective of others but not like this for one person.

“Is this coming from Arlo, Captain of the Civil Corps, or there something more personal behind this?” Remington asked.

Arlo didn’t answer him and instead continued to make his way into town, storming off once more. He wasn’t sure how to answer him. He was confused.

Kate and Juliet made it to the farm with the basket. Sophie was out on her porch sitting in her rocking chair and enjoying the late spring breeze. Her granddaughter Emily was at the edge of the fields, overlooking a crop of watermelon.

“Oh, you found my basket!” Sophie said as she watched the girls make their way over to her. “Thank you so much!”

Kate reached out to Sophie with the basket, handing it over to her. “No problem,” she told her.

After taking the basket, Sophie handed Kate a small number of gols as a token of appreciation. “You know, I think I might have a commission for you two girls. We’re in need of a water tank at my farm.” Sophie explained. “Can you make one for me? In return, I’ll give you my pumpkin pie.”

Though Kate was pretty sure the price of a water tank was more than a pumpkin pie, she couldn’t say no. Pumpkin Pie was one of her favorite pies. “Sure, no problem,” she told Sophie.

Kate turned to see Juliet talking to Emily so she made her way over to them. “Oh Kate, I was just telling Juliet about how the Watermelons are ripe for picking. We should pick some and enjoy it on the porch.” Emily told her cheerfully.

“If it's okay with Juliet, sure,” Kate said, looking at her sister.

“After the morning we've had, sure, I could use a break,” Juliet told them.

“Great, just don’t pick the biggest melon, I call him Mr. Melon,” Emily explained.

Kate giggled at Emily for naming her watermelon. Juliet jabbed her sister in the ribs.“Why is that?” Juliet asked politely.

“Mr. Melon is my candidate for the Autumn Festival this year. At the rate it’s growing, Mr.Melon and I have a good chance of winning.” Emily explained.

“There’s a competition for the Autumn Festival?” Kate asked as it piqued her curiosity.

“Yeah, for the Autumn Festival. It's a tradition here to do a town fair, and almost everybody shows up. There's lots of food, dancing, music, and fun! At the center of it is the Best Bounty contest, where many people bring out their best harvest of the year.” Emily explained.

“That sounds like fun,” Kate said cheerfully.

“I’ve always wanted to win! Ever since I moved to my granny’s ranch, I’ve participated in the competition every year, but I’ve never won though.” Emily said sadly. “We all should go together. It’ll be a lot of fun!”

“We’ll see,” Juliet said.

“Alright, anyways, let's hurry up and pick some watermelons,” Emily said cheerfully.

The girls picked out a few watermelons and sat on the porch as Emily went in to cut them up. She came back with a large tray of big slices. They glistened in the sunlight. The three girls each took a slice and bit into them, They were really sweet and watery. At that moment, Kate had a feeling she had done something like this before when she was growing up. Though she could never remember her past, she could still recognize familiar feelings.

After enjoying the watermelon with Emily, Juliet went to the Commerce Guild where she picked up a commission for the day and Kate went to the workshop to work on the water tank for Sophie until late into the night. By the time she was finished, Sophie was already gone to bed so she took the hint and went there as well.

In the morning Juliet and Kate walked out of the house to find their resource box was damaged by Huss and Tuss. Guess beating them up the first time didn’t teach them not to mess with these girls. It was time for them to learn not to mess with Death’s Daughters. Pinkie was at the box, waiting to lead them to the cave on Amber Island where Huss and Tuss were hiding out.

The girls followed the cat and entered the Cave. They made a grave mistake messing with Kate after yesterday. Kate and Juliet snuck up on them, finding them where the girls had defeated the Hermit Snaillob.

Huss laughed joyfully as he talked to his brother. “Nother one smashed! Shouldn’t be long now!”

“Those Civil Corps fools are still running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Revenge sure is sweet! Those pesky sisters will regret wrecking our collection scam!” Tuss ranted.

“No more builders, back to work!” Huss giggled. He turned to notice the two girls standing behind them. “huh?”

“What is it, bro...?” Tuss asked as he turned to look.

Kate stepped forward and pointed at the brothers “You two have messed with the wrong sisters too many times too much! It’s time you pay!” she shouted.

Tuss gasped. “Arg! It’s you two! Whatever! We’ll just have to move forward a few steps in the plan!” he said as she stood ready to fight.

Huss joined in, readying his fists. “Time we smash you two for good!”

Juliet shook her head displeased. “Let’s get this over with…”

Huss and Tuss charged at the girls. Kate dodged Huss’ punch, taunting him. “Is that all you got big boy?” She swung him around to punch him in between the brow, pushing him back. She lifted her leg high and kicked Huss, knocking him to the ground.

Juliet stood still and dodged Tuss as he tried to swing at her. She swung back, clipping him in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. “Had enough?” she asked.

The two brothers looked at the sisters as they stood over them. Huss was still trying to catch himself. Tuss was angry. How dare these two girls ruin his plans again. “Why couldn’t you two just...pay up the first time...?” he asked. Tuss stood up quickly, pulling his brother up with him, and started making his way out of the cave, Huss following behind him.

They watched the brothers runoff. “Good riddance,” Juliet said.

Kate started making her way out of the cave as well. “I suppose I’m the one that has to go tell Arlo now…” she said, regrettably.

Juliet followed behind her. “Good, you can apologize to him for your behavior yesterday,” she told her.

Kate’s eyes lit up in shock. “What?! Me, apologize to him? He’s the one that had to call me out in public!” she said as they headed towards the exit.

“You’re the one who showed off and you're the one who reacted poorly. It’s your problem and your responsibility. We don’t need the spotlight on us any more than we already have.” Juliet explained.

Kate huffed. “I’ll think about it,” she replied.

Kate found Arlo in the Civil Corps where she usually found him, finishing his morning workout. It was getting almost routine at this point. He turned to take at the door to see who was coming in. As he noticed Kate walking through the door he turned back to his training dummy to hit it a few more times. She took it as a sign that he was mad at her for yesterday and leaned against his desk, waiting for him to finish. Arlo picked up his towel and wiped the sweat from his face and neck, trying to make himself somewhat presentable. Placing the towel down on a nearby chair he made his way over to her.

“What can I help you with today?” Arlo asked.

Kate watched him approach her. He wasn’t wearing his jacket again and she could see muscles again, glistening from his sweat. “I’m here about the investigation of who smashed my mailbox,” Kate explained.

Arlo walked over to his chair to grab his jacket, trying to make himself seem more professional. “Oh, right. Sorry, we haven’t made as much headway on this case as we would have liked..” he explained.

“It’s fine, Juliet and I found out it was those dimwitted bandit brothers from before. They ran off after Juliet and I defeated them.” Kate explained as she turned to look at him.

“You should probably leave beating criminals to us. That could have been dangerous…” Arlo started to say as he lectures her again and he could see her brow narrow. He leaned up against the desk next to her. “But I’m glad to see you’re in one piece.” He crossed his arms. “I suppose we owe Higgins an apology. We did bring him in for questioning several times.”

“Whoops…” Kate said embarrassed but in reality, she was thinking it serves him right for messing with her since day one.

Arlo looked over at her as he spoke to her. “Thanks for the update though, We’ll track those bandits down,”

Kate looked back at him and smiled. “Thanks,”

Kate’s smile made Arlo feel warm in the chest and happy. He placed his hand on her back. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I shouldn’t have scolded you so harshly like that in front of the crowd like that.”

Kate wasn’t sure what she was more surprised about. The fact that he had placed his hand behind her or that he was apologizing. “I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t have talked back like that to you,” she told him.

Arlo wasn’t sure what to say back, hell he didn’t even know why he had placed his hand behind her as he had. He was nervous and her being around her caused him to do stupid things. 

Kate stood up to get ready to go but she stopped to turn and look at Arlo, reaching into her bag for a container of Seafood Noodles, one of Arlo’s favorite dishes. “I made this for you before I left the workshop this morning. I hope you like it,” she said as she handed him the container.

Arlo took ahold of it, grasping it as she let go. He was mixed with emotions to see it was Seafood Noodles and to see her go out of her way to make him something, let alone one of his favorite dishes. “I’ve been craving this for a while now, how did you know?” he asked.

Kate smiled at him. “I guess I’m just lucky that way,” she told him. She made her way towards the door again, turning at the door to wave goodbye. Arlo was still shocked by the gift that he could barely lift his hand up to wave goodbye.


	11. Poison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life in Portia has become very chaotic when the town's water mysteriously becomes polluted with green goo. Kate is eager to step up and be the hero Portia needs but as her true self starts to shine through, she is met with the one obstacle she keeps running into since the beginning, Arlo.

Chapter 11: Poison

Kate woke up exhausted from working late last night as Juliet and her installed street lights in the town but she managed to drag herself out of the house behind Juliet as they made their way into town. If she thought today was going to be an easier day, she was deadly wrong. As they entered the town, the smell of sewage crept into their noses. The Mayor, Merlin, and Arlo stood around the fountain in Peach Plaza that was now spewing out green goo. It was bubbling and had bits of trash floating in it.

“What’s going on here?” Gale asked.

“I told you, it’s polluted,” Merlin explained to him again.

“But how?” Gale asked.

Sam came running up to them from the western side of town. “I just checked the river, it’s also like this,” she explained.

“Well, did you find the source?” Merlin asked.

“I tried but it looks like it’s coming from above the Bassanio Falls and that lift has been broken for ages,” Sam explained.

“Arlo, find out what's going on! The Portia River is our water source. I don’t want our people getting sick from whatever this goo is!” Gale ordered. He was upset, worried about Portia’s future.

“Got it. I’ll put out a commission for a builder to fix the lift right away!” Arlo said as he turned towards the Commerce Guild. He ran to the door and Kate slipped past everyone, following behind Arlo.

Inside, Kate could see Arlo filling out the paperwork for the commission. As he went to pin it to the commission board, she grabbed the commission from his hands. Arlo was surprised to see someone was already grabbing for the commission before he even pinned it. He recognized the hands instantly. He turned to look at her. 

Kate smiled. “I overheard your conversation in the plaza with the Mayor and the Merlin. Juliet and I would be more than happy to help fix the lift if it means to solve this pollution problem,” she explained. 

Arlo smiled back at her. “Thanks, I’m honestly glad you two are taking on the job,” he told her. Kate blushed as they both still stood there holding onto the commission. 

“I should take this to Juliet so we can get started asap,” Kate said, trying to get him to let go of the commission.

Arlo let go of the commission ”Oh right,” he watched her turn away and head towards the door. “Wait,” he shouted out to her. Kate turned back to look at him. “I have another commission for you,”

“What is it, Arlo?” Kate asked, staring at him.

Arlo’s face turned red. “I was going through my usual training regiment last night, and I was completing my five-hundredths punch when my training dummy broke. I need a replacement dummy as soon as possible,” he explained. It wasn’t a lie but it wasn’t the full truth. After enjoying the noodles she made him for lunch, he was in a pleasant mood. There was a bit of pep to his step and a bit more power to his punch.

Kate laughed at him. “That’s a lot of punches there champ. Anything would break from that much.” she giggled.

“Well, I’m counting on your skill to craft me a training dummy that won’t. You think you’re up to the challenge?” Arlo asked her.

Kate smiled happily. “Of course I’m up to the challenge. I’ll even have it done by the end of the day,” she told him.

“Excellent! I’m eager to return to my usual routine.” Arlo said excitedly. “I hope you can find the time to join me again.”

“I hope so too,” Kate replied.

Kate turned to open the door and head out when it opened itself. Juliet was making her way into the Guild. “There you are! I didn’t see you run off in the Plaza. ” Juliet said as she made her way in. She looked over by the Commission board to see Arlo standing there watching them. “Oh, good morning Arlo,”

“Morning,” Arlo replied back.

“Sorry, I would have made it in sooner but The Mayor stopped me for a commission for the Haunted Cave. Did you get a regular daily commission already?” Juliet asked.

“Oh, no, I didn’t. I just picked up this urgent commission from Arlo,” Kate explained.

“Oh, an urgent one? Is that the one to fix the lift?” Juliet asked, looking over at Arlo.

“Yeah,” Kate replied.

“Alright, why don’t you head back to the workshop to get things started on that and I’ll pick up a regular commission,” Juliet told Kate as she headed towards the board.

“Okay, I’ll see you at home then,” Kate said as she once again turned to leave.

“You two sure line up a lot of work,” Arlo said as Juliet walked over to the board. 

Juliet was puzzled by Arlo’s comment. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“Well, between the lift, the haunted cave, my training dummy, and now another commission, that’s a lot of work even for two people,” Arlo explained.

“Training Dummy huh? Kate didn’t mention that,” Juliet replied.

Arlo smirked. “Well, I’m sure she meant to,” he told Juliet. ”I’ll catch you later then, I have things to attend to.” he said making his way towards the door.

Juliet watched him walk away and out the door before grabbing a commission. She wasn’t sure what his motive was behind telling her about his commission Kate took. Juliet headed back to the workshop with the new commission in hand, running into her sister talking to Aadit at the Western Gate.

Kate noticed her sister walking her way. “Oh good, Julie, Aadit was just about the local kids causing trouble in the Tree Farm and hurting some migrating birds that were resting in the trees. He came up with a great idea.”

Aadit blushed. “Thanks…Yeah, I was asking your sister if you could come up with something the kids could shoot instead of the birds so they could leave them alone,” he explained.

“Sure,” Juliet replied. “We’ve never made anything like that before but we’ll try our best.”

“Django’s Gaming Hall has a dart game, maybe you could make something similar to that,” Aadit suggested.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Kate said, smiling at Aadit.

Aadit blushed again and looked away. “Well I better get going,” he said, making his way into town.

Juliet turned to Kate as soon as Aadit was out of sight. “I’ll take care of the Aadit’s commission so you can focus on Arlo’s,” she told her.

Kate looked at her sister confused. “How did you know I had a commission from Arlo? I hadn’t told you yet,” she asked.

“Arlo told me after you left the Commerce Guild. I’m not sure what he was looking to get out of me but it didn’t work.” Juliet explained. “Maybe I’m just overthinking it and he didn’t mean a thing. He just commented on how we take on so much”

Kate became concerned and puzzled. Why would it concern him how much work they do? 

“Don’t worry, head back without me, I’ll go see Django and catch up with you later,” Juliet explained as she started to walk back into town.

Kate waved to her sister as she left until she was out of sight. She made her way back to the workshop where she started working on the materials for the lift and training dummy. She had grabbed the blueprint the last time she visited the Research Center, hoping to make herself one so she could train in the mornings before breakfast but hadn’t gotten to it yet. She hand most of the materials ready except for a few materials that could relatively be made up quickly.

Kate was left waiting for the machines to do their job. She was thankful that the machines in this world were mostly automatic and didn’t need anyone to attend to them every minute. Thankfully, Juliet was making her way back.

“How did it go?” Kate asked as Juliet walked into the yard.

“Django is going to figure out something, I just need to make him a shell necklace for his friend,” Juliet explained as she walked over to the workbench.

Kate giggled. “His friend eh? There is a shell necklace in the gift box,” she told Juliet, making her way over to the box labeled ‘Gifts’.

“Perfect,” Juliet said as she watched Kate pull it out of the box. Kate walked the necklace over to Juliet, handing it over. “Thanks. How goes the training dummy?”

“Oh, I’m just waiting on a few things and then I can start building it,” Kate told her sister as she sat down at the stone table.

“You don’t seem to be enthused on this commission for Arlo?” Juliet commented.

Kate let out a big sigh. “I feel like every time I run into him solo, he’s always asking me to train with him but I’m always having to let him down,” Kate explained. “Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy training with him and enjoy this whole builder identity we got stuck with but we are here on a mission and that comes first.”

“Hmmm...I suppose that is a problem.” Juliet said, sitting down next to her sister. “You know, we’re probably going to be here a few years based on the book's timeline. We don’t have to push ourselves so hard. We can take some time off to enjoy ourselves too.” she tried to explain.

Kate looked at her sister. “We need to solve this water pollution problem first, then we can talk about having time off. These people deserve clean water.” she stood up. “They aren’t as lucky as you or I. We can just touch the water and it’s cleaned. You could boil this water as many times as you want and it still would be drinkable.”

Juliet watched her sister walk over to one of the machines. “Alright, you have a point, but after this, you’re going to take some time off.” she nagged.

Juliet got up and started to make her way back to Django’s restaurant while Kate worked on the training dummy. It was mid-afternoon so Django was getting ready for Toby to show up after school for some sword training outside where Juliet found him.

Juliet grabbed the necklace from her bag and walked over. “Django, I have that necklace you asked me to make,” she said as she approached.

Django turned to look at Juliet. “Perfect!” he said, grabbing the necklace and looking it over as Juliet watched him. “Oh right, as promised, here is the target and dart,” he said as he picked up the target board and darts off the ground. He had them leaning up against a tree as if he had been testing it out before she arrived.

Juliet took it from him and smiled. “Thanks, Django, here’s hoping it solves Addit’s problems,” she told him.

Juliet made her way over to the tree farm after leaving the restaurant. It was a bit out of the way for her but she actually enjoyed taking a walk through the countryside. She usually sent her sister out to do all the running around and while she worked hard in the workshop. It was a nice change. 

Aadit was hard at work on the tree farm when Juliet approached him. He didn’t notice her right away until she got closer which startled him. “Oh, Juliet, sorry I didn’t hear you,” he said as he turned to look at her.

“Oh no, my deepest apologizes Aadit, I didn't mean to scare you,” Juliet replied.

“It’s fine, really. What brings you out here?” Aadit asked.

Juliet held out the target and darts to Aadit. “Django was able to provide me with a target and darts to help with your trouble makers,” she explained.

“This is exactly what I was hoping for! This will definitely keep those kids occupied!” Aadit said cheerfully. ”Thanks a lot, but why didn’t your sister come as well?” he asked.

“Oh, she’s busy working at the workshop. We’re trying to get the old lift repaired so the Civil Corps can investigate the water pollution.” Juliet explained.

“Right, I saw the fountain this morning in town. I'm glad we get our water from Duck Pound around here. At least it’s safe for now.” he told her.

“That’s good to hear,” Juliet replied as she smiled. “Well, I’d love to chat but I really must get back to the workshop and help my sister out,” she explained as she headed towards the gate.

“Alright, thanks again, and good luck,” Aadit said, waving her off as she headed out of the farm.

Juliet rushed back to the workshop to find Kate adding the last touches to the training dummy. Kate hadn’t noticed her sister making her way over to her. “Is that the training dummy for Arlo?” she asked.

Kate turned to see Juliet behind her. “Oh, yes. What do you think?” she asked her sister.

Juliet looked it over, inspecting every inch of the dummy. “Looks great. Arlo is gonna love it,” she told her.

Kate smiled brightly. “I hope so, I need to get it up to him before it’s late. I promised I’d have it to him by the end of the day,” she explained.

Juliet patted Kate on the shoulder. “Come on, I’ll help you get it up there.”

The two girls grabbed the training dummy and made their way up the hill, it wasn’t that heavy but the size made it awkward for Kate to carry alone. As they reached the top. Juliet placed her end down at the front of the Civil Corps. Kate turned to look at Juliet.

“What wrong?” Kate asked.

“You head in without me,” Juliet told her.

Kate looked at her puzzled. “You don’t want to come in?” she asked.

Juliet smiled at her sister. “Nah, this is your commission,” she explained. “Besides, you two should take this moment to test it out together.”

Kate looked blankly at her sister. “You sure?” she asked.

“Yeah, don’t worry. I have plenty to do down at the workshop.” Juliet explained.

Juliet walked down the hill away from her sister heading down towards central Plaza. Along her way, she runs into a nervous Dr. Xu.

Juliet stops Xu. “What’s wrong Doctor?” she asks him.

Xu is startled by her. “Oh Juliet..eh..Ever since the water’s been polluted, the people here have started to fall ill. Stomach aches, throwing up, things like that. Basically Water poisoning.” he explained.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Juliet asked. She was no stranger to medicine. She’s had to make many potions for her sister in the past. Kate was always getting herself into messes when she went out on adventures, coming home and needing care.

Xu perked up. “Well, actually, yes!” he replied. “Phyllis has been working on a new antitoxin for a while now,” he explained.

“Oh yes, Kate and I had to get her some Venom in the hazardous ruins to help her research,” Juliet said.

“We found that it has some effects on stomach aches but she thinks she needs a better primer to maximize the effect. We’ve been considering using Bamboo Papayas,” he explained. “If you have the time, could you please find some for her to test out? I believe there are some wild ones over in the Collapsed Wasteland growing.” 

“Sure, I’d be more than happy to help. I’ll go get them now.” Juliet told Xu.

After saying goodbye to Xu, she made her way into the Collapsed Wasteland to collect the Bamboo Papaya.

Up at the Civil Corps, Kate made her way in through the door with the training dummy. Arlo was at his desk filling out paperwork from commission to incident reports. The loud thud noises gave her away. Kate noticed Arlo watching her as she entered and quickly stood in front of the training dummy so he couldn’t see it.

“Don’t look yet!” Kate said nervously. “Cover your eyes.”

Arlo looked puzzled “What are you doing?” he asked.

Kate glared at him. “It’s a surprise, now cover your eyes so I can set it up?” she explained.

Arlo gave in to her order and covered his eyes with one hand. “Is that my training dummy?” he asked.

Kate watched Arlo for a minute to make sure he wasn’t going to peek. “Maybe, you’ll just have to wait until it’s ready,” she told him.

When she was confident he wasn’t peeking, she quickly pointed her finger over at the spot where Arlo’s old training dummy used to sit. In a blink of the eye, the new training dummy moved from in front of the door to the spot. She walked over to it, making it seem like she walked it over. 

“Okay, you can look now,” Kate told him as she stood next to it.

Arlo removed his hand to find her standing across the room with the new training dummy all set up. He stood up from his chair, slowly making his way over to her and the training dummy. As he approached, he reached out to touch it. He examined every inch, checking every detail. He stopped for a moment, lifted his fists up, and gave it a few punches. Kate was startled by him that she stumbled back a few steps. He stopped quickly to catch her.

Arlo swung his arm around Kate’s waist and held her in place “Sorry.” he apologized as they stared at each other. Her cheeks turned rose-colored.

Embarrassed, Arlo let go of Kate. They both turned to look at the Training dummy. “What do you think?'' she asked, patting the dummy.

Arlo turned to look at her. “It’s great. I can tell you put a lot of love and care into crafting it. You never seem to disappoint me.” he told her. “You have my thanks.”

Kate’s cheeks got brighter in color. “You’re welcome, I'm glad you like it,” she replied.

“If you have time tomorrow morning, we should train together,” Arlo told her.

Kate moved closer to Arlo, getting really close into his personal space, and looked up at him. “How about right now?” Kate asked.

Arlo blushed as he looked into her sparkling green eyes. “Eh...yeah, sure...now’s a great time,” he said nervously. He walked around her to get to the training dummy. Taking his jacket off and throwing it to a nearby chair as he got ready, he tried his best to get his thoughts together. She had spellbound him in some way. 

Kate walked over to the other chair and took her jacket off as well. The first day of summer was just only a few days away at this point. The air was warmer and training with layers on wasn't a good option. She picked up a hand wrap and started to wrap her hands. Arlo glanced over his shoulders every few seconds to make sure she was doing it right, trying not to get noticed by her.

It was late into the night by the time Kate made it home. Juliet was still awake, working hard in the workshop. As she walked into the yard she looked to her sister and made her way over to her.

“Hey, need some help?” Kate asked her sister. “It’s getting late, we should finish up here and get to bed,” she told her.

Juliet stopped to look at Kate. “Yeah, I would love the help,” she told her. “Can you refuel the furnaces while I put stuff away?” Kate nodded and made her way over to the logs. She took them over to the furnaces and filled them fully as Juliet quickly cleaned up the worktable for the night.

The sun rose early that morning. Kate and Juliet crawled out of bed still exhausted from getting to bed late last night. Kate started a pot of coffee on the stove before making her way over to get dressed for the day. After getting dressed and having breakfast, the two girls make their way out to the workshop to get back at working on the Lift controls and materials needed to repair it.

“Seems like there are a lot of favors in town today,” Kate commented to her sister as she worked on the controls for the lift.

“Oh yeah? You want to split it up like yesterday?” Juliet asked 

“Hmmm...Django just needs a new sword which we have a spare in the gift box, if you could take on delivering medicine for Phyllis seeing you said last night that you helped her gather Bamboo Papaya for it. I’ll take on the file folder Albert drops at the Dee-Dee stop outside of town by our house.” Kate explained.

“Alright, met you at the harbor then?” Juliet asked.

Kate smiled at her sister. “Sounds like a plan,” she told her.

On their way into town, Kate picked up the file folder marked A and G on it by the Dee-Dee stop. Juliet headed on without her to find Phyllis. Kate stuffed it into her bag and made her way to Django who was practicing his sword fight like he does everyone morning. You could tell her really worked it to death.

Django noticed Kate making his way over to him and lit up. “Just the builder I was hoping to see,” he said excitingly.

“What can I help you with, Django?” Kate asked as she stopped in front of him.

“Well, as you can see, my practice sword is getting worn. I need a new one for my morning exercises.” Django explained to her. ”How ‘about it? Can you craft me a new one?” he asked.

Kate grabbed the bronze sword hanging off her back. “You’re just in luck, I have never used, bronze sword sitting in storage. I was going to bring it into town to sell it,” she explained, holding it out to him.

Django is surprised by his luck. He grabs the sword and swings it around to see how it feels. “Now this brings me back to my younger days when I was receiving my first sword!” he said proudly. “Thank you kindly.”

“No problem Django, enjoy,” Kate replied as she waved goodbye and made her way towards A and G.

Inside A and G, Kate found no one. She was expecting to see Gust working hard at his desk on his latest design but at least nothing. So she left and made her way to Gale’s house to see if he even left the house today. Inside Gale’s home, she found Gust, Ginger, and Dr. Xu all gathered around in the living room.

Kate stopped abruptly as she entered. “My apologies. I’m not interrupting anything am I?” she asked.

Dr. Xu smiled at her. “No, I’m just finishing up here. Is there something I can help you with?” he asked.

Kate walked a little farther in. “Oh no, I’m actually here for Gust,” Kate explained.

Gust looked up at her. Oh? What is it?” he asked.

Kate pulled the file folder out of her bag and walked it over to Gust. “I found this outside of town on the ground. It’s marked A and G so I assumed it had to be either yours or Alberts” she explained as she held it out to him.

Gust stood up and grabbed it from her hands, examining the papers inside, “This is...my design draft. Albert was taking to the harbor to send it off to Atara..did he drop it on the way?” he asked.

Kate looked up at him. “I can go run it to him,” she told him. “You said he’s at the harbor right?”

Gust handed the file back over to her. “Thanks, he’s probably scratching his head as we speak trying to figure out where it went,” he told her.

Kate ran out the door with the file in hand. She flew over the railings and onto the ramp that led down to the park, sprinting down the ramp and out to the Plaza. What she didn’t realize was, someone was watching her.

Moments before while Kate was talking to Gust, Juliet was up at the Clinic talking to Phyllis. She was busy preparing antitoxins. Juliet walked over to her.

“Good morning Phyllis, how are you today?” Juliet asked.

“Oh, Juliet, thank goodness you’re here. I have a favor to ask of you,” Phyllis said joyfully.

“What can I help you with?” Juliet asked.

“If you have some free time, can you help deliver some medicine for me? I’m tied up here at work.” Phyllis explained.

“Sure, anything to help,” Juliet smiled.

“Phyllis picked up a few bottles of antitoxins and handed them to Juliet with a list of names. “Thank you, here are the medicines and a list of names. Come back here when you are finished okay.” Phyllis said pleasantly.

Juliet nodded and took the bottles, placing them carefully into her bag. She glanced at the list and headed off, waving Phyllis goodbye. Sam and Gale were the only two on the list that was still in town on the list. Albert was the only one out by the harbor. Surprisingly she found both the Mayor and Sam up on the skywalk in town, both at opposite ends. The Mayor was meeting with Russo while Sam did her usually Saturday Patrol.

Juliet approached the Mayor first. “Excuse me, Mr. Mayor, I hope I’m not interrupting something important,” she said politely.

“Oh, Juliet...No..what can I do for you…?” Gale asked nervously.

“Phyllis asked me to deliver her medicine to a few of the people in town,” she explained, holding out a bottle of the antitoxin.

Gale reached out for the bottle, taking it from Juliet’s hands. “Ah, this is the remedy for water poisoning? I really need it!” he said as he popped the top off and took a big whiff of the incense. “Wahaha..Phyllis’ really somethin’, I reckon we’ll soon have two doctors in town!”

“She certainly is. Well, I better get going. I still have two more deliveries to make.” Juliet said as she waved goodbye and made her way over to Sam.

Gale and Russo waved her off as she made her way over to the other side of the skywalk where Sam was. Sam noticed her walking over and stopped so Juliet could catch up to her.

“Hey Juliet, what brings you up here today?” Sam asked.

Juliet grabbed another bottle from her bag and headed it out to Sam as she approached her. “Phyllis asked me to deliver her medicine to a few people in town,” she explained.

Sam took the bottle from Juliet’s hands. “How come you’re the one delivering this? Is Phyllis too busy to even meet her best friend now?” Sam asked. 

“She did seem very busy when I went up to the clinic,” Juliet explained to Sam.

“Maybe I should head over for a cup of tea and see if I can help her out?” Sam said. “Thanks, kid,”

Juliet glared at Sam. She wasn’t too happy being called a kid when she was practically the same age as her.

Juliet headed off, heading out of town and towards the plaza, minutes before her sister. She found Albert down by the port, looking around trying to find something. He didn’t notice her as she approached him. 

“Albert, are you okay?” Juliet asked as she stopped near him. 

Albert looked up at her. “Not really, I've lost my package. You haven't seen it have you?” he asked.

“No, I haven't, I came here looking for you. Someone said they saw you heading this way. I have medicine from Phyllis for your water poisoning.” Juliet explained as she reached into her bag for the last bottle.

Juliet held it to Albert and he took it from her. “This is from Phyllis?” he asked looking at it. “Thanks mate! Seems like she still cares about me...but why has she been avoiding me lately? Strange…” he pondered.

Just at that moment, Kate came running up to them both, panting for air as she stopped. “No one told you needed to run here,” Juliet told her sister.

Kate glared at her sister. She held out the file that was in her hand to Albert. “My Package!” Albert said excitedly as he grabbed for it. “I was looking everywhere for it! If I had lost this...Gust wouldn’t have talked to me for a whole season.” he laughed. “Thanks, Kate,”

“Is this Package important?” Kate asked.

“Oh yeah! This is Gust's design proposal for the new Commerce Guild HQ building in Atara for Victor Azula, the head of the Guild. To be honest, I don't think we're going to get this project. The Vincent Design Institute is in Atara, so there's gonna be a lot of competition there!” Alber explained.

“Wow, that's pretty impressive,” Juliet replied.

“Yeah, Gust is pretty impressive. There were a lot of teams scouting him while he was studying in Atara. Still, some folks just can't understand his designs, especially those old fools in the Design Institute.” Albert explained. “I think the day his sister Ginger marries will be the day Gust goes for his position in the Design Institute. As long as Ginger is alone, Gust will always be here.”

Kate looked over at Juliet who looked back at her. “I think I can understand where Gust is coming from. I’d choose to stay by my sister’s side too if something was to ever happen to her,” Kate explained. It was true. Something had happened to Juliet and she’s been by her side ever since. Even though Juliet didn’t want her to be at first, they grew quite used to each other and forged a strong bond. Juliet smiled at her sister.

Kate and Juliet walked back towards the town together, talking to one another. 

“I can’t believe it’s afternoon already, we’ve been out doing all these tasks for everyone,” Kate whined.

“Oh come on, if we weren’t doing this, we would be in the workshop all day working on the lift and half the day would just be us sitting around doing nothing. This is far better than sitting around.” Juliet explained.

Kate and Juliet made it back to town making their way to A and G where they found Gust sitting at his desk. Kate walked over to him as Juliet stood by the door to watch.

Gust looked up at her as she approached. “What is it?’ he asked her

“I got the package to Albert,” Kate told him

Gust turned back to look at his work. “My thanks.”

Kate realized why she disliked Gust’s attitude so much. He reminded her of Death, her father.” I heard from Albert you’re a popular designer, even in Atara.” she told him.

Gust sighed. “That guy got a big mouth,” he told her.

“He also said that your designs are very distinctive, but many people don't understand them,” Kate said, trying to get more out of him than just his usually subtle sentences.

Gust continued on with his work. “Isn't that the truth. The powers that be only care about one thing: cost. It's hard for them to understand that architecture is an art and has vitality. A good design can give life and soul to a building!” he explained passionately. 

Kate smiled as walked away. She was right, there was more to Gust than what he shows others She met Juliet at the door and they left together. Outside they walked up the hill to the Clinic to find Phyllis. She was still busy making more medicine. She looked up and smiled, happy to see both sisters stopping by this afternoon.

Phyllis walked over to them “You completed the deliveries?’ she asked

“Yes ma’am,” Juliet told her.

Phyllis smiled at them. “Fantastic, and I see you brought your sister along this time too,” she replied.

Kate smiled. “Sorry, It’s been quite chaotic in town ever since the town’s water has been polluted. We’ve been quite busy at the workshop.” Kate explained.

Phyllis sighed. “I can understand that, it’s been quite chaotic here as well, but don’t forget to take time for yourself as well,” she told them.

“We won’t,” Kate told her. “We plan on taking some days off when this water problem is solved,” she explained.

“That sounds like a great plan,” Phyllis said enviously.

Juliet and Kate made it outside of the clinic after saying goodbye to Phyllis. There was still plenty of time to work on the lift if they made it down to the workshop on time. “Race you down to the workshop?” Kate asked juliet.

“Do we look like children?” Juliet asked.

“What’s wrong? Afraid to lose?” Kate taunted her.

“No! It’s just childish to race at our age.” Juliet replied.

“Oh come on! The last one to the workshop is a rotten egg,” Kate taunted her sister as she started running ahead of her sister. Juliet ran after her sister.

Kate got to the ramps leading down to the second level of the town. She jumped over them to land down below but when she jumped, she didn’t check to see if anyone was making their way up the ramp. By the time she checked, it was already too late. She landed straight into Arlo’s arms.

Arlo was taken off guard and surprised to see her fall into his arms. They looked at each other as both of them turned red. “Oh shit…” she mumbled

It took Arlo only a minute to realize she was jumping off the ramps again. “Jumping off the ramps in town again...this is the second time I’ve seen you do this today,” he explained.

Kate laughed nervously. “Haha...of course, you did…”

Arlo was still holding onto her, not letting her move anytime soon. “Am I going to have to teach you a lesson?” he asked. He wasn’t too happy and feared she was going to get herself hurt. That wasn’t something he wanted to see now that he has grown quite fond of their friendship.

Kate didn’t have many options here. Juliet was still up above watching everything. This kinda amused her and didn’t want to interfere. Kate had to find a way to convince Arlo to let her go. “You wouldn’t,” she told him.

Arlo glared at her. “I will,” he told her.

Kate’s expression changed to a more sorrowful look. Her eyes sparkled like the sun casting through the trees of a forest. He found himself lost in them. “If you punish me then who’s gonna help my sister with repairing the lift. Eventually everyone within the town will get sick” she told him.

Arlo loosened his grip. She was technically right. Though he was sure her sister could manage without her, with both of them working on it, they would get to it sooner. He didn’t want any more of the townspeople getting sick on his watch. “Alright, but if I catch you jumping off high places again, there's going to be severe consciences,” he told her.

Juliet shook her head and facepalmed. Kate did it. She got herself out of trouble with Arlo. At least this time, neither of them is storming off upset with each other. She started making her way down the ramp. Arlo looked up to see Juliet making her way over, realizing she had been watching this whole time. “Are you two done flirting with each other?” she asked as she approached them.

Arlo got defensive. “I wasn’t flirting with your sister...I was soldering her for jumping off the ramp,” he explained.

Kate giggled as she leaned in to whisper into Arlo’s ear. “I don’t know Red, for a while there, the way you were holding onto me, if anyone had walked upon us, they would have thought something was going on between us,” she explained.

Arlo turned beet red. “You’re the one who landed into my arms like that,” he said nervously.

Juliet started walking away from them both smiling. “Come along Kate, stop torturing Arlo. We should head back to the workshop. There’s a lift to repair.” she explained. 

Kate ran off behind her sister as Arlo watched them head off towards the church ruins and out of sight. He was still red in the face. What was this control she had over him all of the sudden? He was embarrassed. As the leader of the Civil Corps, he was supposed to be stronger than this and not let her toy with him so easily. Arlo started making his way back up to the Civil Corps, still lost in thought.

Down in Peach Plaza, Kate noticed an unfamiliar figurer with a familiar aura. It was a small thin man with a large bag on his back full of trinkets and baubles hanging off of it. His face was covered by a festive mask. Kate steered off from her sister and walked over to the man. Her curiosity was getting the best of her. She felt like she knew him. He turned around to see Kate making her way over to him. He recognized her instantly and panicked, but it was too late for him to avoid her.

“Excuse me, do I know you?” Kate asked as she approached him.

“No...we’ve never met before...but I’m sure you’ve heard of me,” he said nervously.

“Oh? Why’s that?” Kate asked.

“I’m the Mysterious Salesman. I travel all over the Free Cities selling my wares” he explained. 

Kate looked him over, convinced she knew him but with the mask on she couldn’t tell. “Hmm..maybe…” she replied.

“You’re new to town right? I’ve never seen you here before. Let me show you my latest wares.” he told her.

Juliet found Kate browsing the Mysterious Salesman’s good. She rolled her eyes when she realized her sister was shopping but she let her be. She earned herself a little reward for all the work she’s done this past season before they headed back once more for the workshop.


	12. Sorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet and Kate receive an unexpected letter from home from a raven that puts the girls in a somber mood and leaves Arlo concerned for the well being of his new friend. Still, work must go on and Kate continues working on the Bassanio Falls lift as the race to solve the mystery of the polluted water.

Chapter 12: Sorrow

The next morning was gloomy and rainy. Juliet and Kate took their time getting out of bed and getting ready for the day. Once again, the night before they were up late working. It was almost three am by the time they headed to bed. For the last day of spring, it felt dreary and perhaps for good reason. As the girls stepped out into the cold rain, the familiar sound of a raven calling out surprised them. Sitting on the mail was just that, a raven, darker than any normal raven. 

They recognized him to be Evermore, their father’s messenger bird. The two girls looked at each other in fear for whatever message was attached to his leg, was most likely not a good one. Juliet stepped forward, making her way to the mailbox as Kate followed behind her. Removing the letter, she read it to herself.

As Juliet read the letter, Kate held her arm out to Evermore to hop on and perched himself. “Hello little friend,” she said, scratching his neck as he fluffed up his feathers in pleasure.

Juliet stopped reading the letter and fell to her knees. Kate was taken off guard but quickly rushed to her sister’s side. “What’s wrong?” she asked as she noticed tears forming in the corner of Juliet's eyes. Juliet couldn’t speak. She handed the letter to Kate who began to read the letter to herself.

“To the Attention of the Princesses of the Veil,

We regret to inform you that your father, Death, King of the Veil is no longer with us. He has been murdered by the hand of a human hunter in the plains of the living. We send our deepest sympathy to you both.  
At this time, we advise you both to stay put for safety reasons. With the recent death of the king, we had to re-enforce security within the Palace. We the Council have assigned the reaper, Billie, as the next Death in order to restore balance. 

Sincerely,

The Council of Elders”

Kate dropped the letter at her side and held Juliet a little closer to her. Juliet threw herself into Kate’s chest and started to sob while Kate just sat there staring off. They couldn’t believe it, Death was dead. He always told them everything dies eventually but Kate didn’t believe she'd ever see the day her own father’s death would become a reality. Only foolish gods die, right? The two were soaked to the bone from the rain at this point. Kate realized that this wasn’t the place to be sobbing. She stood up and helped Juliet to her feet, walking her sister back to the house so they could dry off. She started a pot of water on the stove and prepared a teapot while Juliet sat at the table with a towel wrapped around her.

Together they spent the morning sitting at the table where neither of them spoke and occasionally sipped tea. Neither of them spoke, but they didn’t need to because they could feel each other's sorrow. They both had questions, felt the pain, anger, and sadness of each other. It wasn’t until noon that Kate finally stood up and made her way out to the workshop. She needed to get out of the house, push her feelings aside, and get to work.

After checking on the machines and furnaces, Kate made her way into town to the restaurant. She wasn’t in the mood to cook tonight. As she entered, Sonia, Antione, and Emily were all gathered at a booth discussing something. Sonia noticed Kate entering and rushed over to her, dragging her to the table.

“Just the person we need!” Sonia said excitedly.

Kate tried her best to stay pleasant. “What can I do for you three?’ she asked.

“Can you do us a tiny favor?” Sonia asked as Emily and Antoine eagerly looked at her.

Kate let out a small sigh, “Sure, what do you need?” she asked.

“We need a blender to mix together your skincare products. I think a builder with a great complexion like yourself is perfect for the job!” Sonia told her.

“Alright, I’ll have it for you tonight. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to order something to go for my sister. She’s not well today and I’m going to be too busy in the workshop. Whatever today’s special will do.” Kate told her.

The three looked at each other blankly as Kate walked away to the bar where she sat down. They’ve never seen Kate act this way before. She seemed a bit cold. Sonia walked off to the kitchen to prepare Kate’s order. Django recognized the sorrow in her eyes as she sat down. Though he did not ask what was wrong as much as he wanted to, he instead poured her a glass of Duvos punch on the house. Kate thanked Django before chugging down the glass in one go.

Kate left the restaurant with her order in hand, heading home back to the workshop. Arlo was in the plaza, making his rounds before heading to the Research Center to drop off power stones when he noticed Kate walking in the rain with no umbrella. He quickly made his way over to her, calling out to her before she got too far away out of town. 

“You’re going to catch a cold if you continue to walk around in this rain,” Arlo said to her as he approached her.

Kate turned around to see Arlo behind her. He had an umbrella hat on his head like everyone else in town. She thought it was the stupidest looking thing. Useful but stupid looking. “That's a myth,” she told him.

Arlo noticed the dark circles under her eyes and something deep inside told him that something was wrong. “Are you okay? You look tired,” he asked.

Kate forced herself to smile. “I’m fine, thank you,” she told him.

Arlo placed his hand on her shoulder. “If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m willing to listen,” he told her.

Kate looked up at him, staring into his eyes. He was being genuine with her. Since day one, they’ve been like fire and water, getting under each other’s skins, but after all this time, they have become close enough for him to want to stick around. “Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind,” she told him. “Now if you don’t mind, I need to get this to my sister, she’s not feeling well today.”

Kate turned back around and started to walk away while Arlo watched her. He was saddened to hear Juliet wasn’t feeling well but was still worried about Kate, fearing she was hiding something more personal from him but It wasn’t his place to get her to open up to him so he let her go, yet the feeling still sat in his gut, eating at him.

The morning of the first day of Summer, the sun rose early, and so didn’t Kate. She started her day making breakfast for her sister but skipping it herself. At the same time, she decided to make Spaghetti with Hot Sauce. She knew it was one of Arlo’s favorite dishes and she felt the need to show him some appreciation for being a good friend to her. She packed it up into her bag and made her way out to the workshop. 

Gathering the materials needed to repair the lift and the control unit, Kate prepared herself to head out. She was starting to wish she had a horse, even if it was her horse Ghost from back home, though she doubted he’d let her pack him like a mule, the thought was nice though. Kate headed out without Juliet. She was still in bed sleeping, tired from crying all day. Kate had no time to be sad or morn. 

Cutting through the fields, Kate made her way to the cliff above Bassanio Falls. Even though it was filled with gross smelly sewage, the waterfall was still beautiful, wild, and powerful. Kate placed the materials down on the ground, organizing them in the order she was going to need them. She worked on repairs through the morning, completing it just before noon. She switched on the control unit to the lift, powering in on. The lift started up, lifting the platform up to the top and then descending back down after a few minutes. Kate quickly packed up her tools and headed back down to the Eastern Gate.

As Kate walked into the town, Polly was at the gate, putting up a poster on the wall of the gate where people leaving town could see. She seemed to be a bit upset as she stepped back after finishing. Polly noticed Kate walking into town. “Oh, afternoon Kate,” she said politely.

“Good afternoon Polly, what wrong?” Kate asked.

“I’m a little worried about this dog on this poster,” Polly told Kate. He used to hang around Central Plaza. Everyone would feed him so we called him Scraps but then one day he just disappeared.” she explained.

“I’m sorry Polly, I’m sure he’ll show up eventually,” Kate told her

“It’s been a while since we last saw him and I’ve heard nothing. I’ve looked everywhere for him but Portia is such a big place.” Polly told Kate. “Hey, I have an idea! If you wouldn’t mind, can you help me look as well? The more eyes the better right?”

“Sure, I’ll ask the Civil Corps and see if anyone has any clues about where Scraps might have run off too,” Kate told Polly.

“Thank you, Kate,” Polly said cheerfully as she smiled.

Thankfully the first Civil Corp officer nearby was Remington. Kate found him to be a bit more carefree than Arlo or Sam and easier to talk to not that she had a probable m talking to any of the Civil Corps members. He was on his usual rounds in the Central Plaza so Kate made her way over to him.

Kate greeted him as she approached.“Afternoon Remington,”

“Afternoon Kate, what can I do for you today?” Remington asked as turned around to look at her, smiling brightly.

“Polly is worried about a dog named Scraps that used to wander around here in the plaza. She’s asked me to help locate him. You wouldn't have any idea where he could have run off to?” Kate asked him.

“Hmm..I’ve tried looking for Scraps myself with no luck. You could try with Sam or Arlo and ask if they’ve seen anything on their patrols.” Remington suggested.

“I’ll try with Arlo first,” Kate told him. “I need to let him know the lift is all repaired anyway.”

“Oh, you fixed it already? Without your sister too?” Remington asked.

“Yeah, she hasn’t been well as of late,” Kate explained.

“Yeah, I heard from Arlo, he mentioned he ran into you in town yesterday,” Remington told her.

Kate looked at him curiously. Why would Arlo mention running into her in town to Remington?

“Well, tell your sister I hope she feels better soon,” Remington told her.

“I will. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it,” Kate said as she smiled at him.

Kate and Remington parted ways as she made her way up to the top of town to the Civil Corps and Remington continued his patrol in town. As she reached the top of the ramp, she could see Arlo off in the distance by the abandoned ruin. He was patrolling the area. She slowly made her way over to him. Arlo could feel her eyes staring at him and turned around to see her. 

For some reason, Arlo was happy to see Kate but he wasn’t sure why himself. She at least seemed to be in better spirits today he thought to himself. “Kate, what brings you up here this afternoon?” he asked as she approached him.

“I just finished repairing the lift by Bassanio Falls,” Kate explained.

Arlo was surprised by this news but at the same time excited. “All by yourself?” he asked.

“Yeah, Juliet is still not feeling well. I’m unsure how long it will take her to recover.” Kate explained as she looked down at the ground in sorrow, trying to push her own feelings away.

“Have you gotten Dr. Xu to swing by to check her out?” Arlo asked as he looked at her in concern.

Kate turned away. “No...she doesn’t have a cold...she’s just emotionally unwell.” Kate tried to explain. 

“Did something happen? You seemed a bit upset yesterday as well.” Arlo asked.

Kate hesitated before speaking. “No, everything is fine. It’ll pass. It’s just something that happens sometimes,” she lied.

Arlo found it hard to believe but he let her be. “Alright, well thank you. Hopefully, we’ll be able to figure out what’s causing the green goo soon,” he told her.

Kate turned back to look at Arlo, smiling. “I hope so too,” she told him.

There was a long pause between them before Arlo finally broke the silence. “Is there anything else I can help you with?’ he asked her.

Kate quickly went over in her head, trying to remember all the things she had planned to do today, remembering that she still had to find Scraps. “Oh, actually there is something you can help me with. Polly is looking for a dog named Scraps that used to wander around Central Plaza. Have you heard or seen anything that may lead me to his whereabouts?” Kate asked

“Hmm, come to think of it, I thought I heard barking in the Collapsed Wasteland when I was on patrol recently but when I checked the area, I didn’t see a thing,” Arlo explained. “Why don’t you take a look yourself, in case you see something I didn’t”

“Alright, It’s worth a try,” Kate replied. She started to walk away towards the Collapse Wasteland and realized she forgot something yet again. Turning around, she made her way back over to Arlo.

“What wrong?’ Arlo asked as she stopped in front of him.

Kate reached into her bag and pulled out the container of Spaghetti with Hot Sauce. “I almost forgot to give you this, I made it myself this morning,” she told him as she held it out to him.

Arlo’s eyes lit up with joy at the sight of the spaghetti and hot sauce but he was a bit shocked and confused at the same time. “How..did you know I was craving Spaghetti with Hot Sauce?” he asked as he looked back and forth at her and the container. 

Kate’s face blushed as she smiled joyfully at him. “I didn’t,” she told him.

Confused, Arlo looked at her, “Then why did you go out of your way to make this for me?” he asked.

“It’s a thank you gift for being such a good friend, even when I haven’t been the easiest of people to deal with from time to time,” Kate explained. 

Arlo didn’t expect any of this for her. It seemed almost out of place for her and yet someone how he felt it wasn’t. “But I haven’t done anything to deserve this,” he told her.

“Of course you have, you’ve been really nice to me and caring since I came to Portia even when I wasn’t as kind towards you,” Kate told him.

Arlo smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder. “You’re a really good friend too,” he told her.

Kate blushed as she turned around, facing her back to him. “I better get going before it gets dark,” she told him.

“Alright, be safe and good luck,” Arlo replied.

Kate headed into the Collapsed Wasteland searching the area, listening for any barking Arlo had mentioned hearing. As she got deeper into the area she noticed something at the bottom of the ravine. There seemed to be an old cabinet down at the bottom with something scavenging in it. She made her way down there and approached it slowly. A little bottom appeared with a tiny tail wagging about.

“Scraps?” Kate called it.

The creature turned around and popped it’s head out. It was indeed a dog and It was scared, quickly running off before Kate could get to it.

“Well, at least he’s still alive,” Kate said as she looked around to see if he was still near. “I guess I’ll let Polly know I at least was able to find where he’s been hiding.,”

It was late by the time Kate made it back into town. Polly was already home and in bed for the night. She was just going to have to tell her tomorrow so she made her way home instead. She found Juliet outside, hard at work in the yard. 

“How are you doing?” Kate asked as she walked into the yard.

Juliet turned to look at her sister.” Managing.” she told her. “How are you? I see you took everything to repair the lift. I assume it’s complete.”

Kate sat down at the stone table as Juliet made her way over to join her. “Yeah, I assume Arlo and the rest of the Civil Corps will head up there and begin to investigate over the next few days,” she explained.

“That’s good. The sooner we clear this water problem, the better.” Juliet told Kate.

Kate agreed with her sister. She couldn’t wait to get this part of the timeline behind them. They both sat there for a moment before either of them said anything.

“Oh, I talked to Remington earlier. I may have mentioned to Arlo that you weren’t feeling well yesterday and he told Remington. He told me to tell you that he hopes you feel better soon,” Kate mentioned to her sister.

Juliet blushed. “Did he really say that?” she asked.

“Yeah, he’s a really nice guy. He seems to really like you,” Kate told her.

“We’re just friends,” Juliet told her defensively.

Kate looked at her sister and smiled. “Of course...but that doesn’t mean he can’t care about you,” Kate told her.

Juliet looked over at her sister with her brow risen. “You know, you should take your own advice sometimes,” she told her.

Applauded by her sister’s comment, Kate looked at her sister in shock. “I’ll have you know, I made Spaghetti with Hot Sauce today and gave it to Arlo as my appreciation for his friendship,” she told her sister.

Juliet smiled at her sister, almost chuckling to herself.“I bet he really liked that,” she commented.

“Yeah...he did,” Kate replied as she reminisced about earlier with Arlo.

That night the girls went to bed early, getting the much-needed rest they deserved. This last season had been really long and gurgling on them. Having to leave home for Portia, getting acquainted with the town, working on endless amounts of projects and favors, and now losing their father. They were spent, emotionally and physically but the mission was far from over and there were still many more seasons to go before it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are wrapping up the first quarter of the story and going into crucial character development for the main character as she goes from being childish to more mature. Things are going to change drastically between Arlo and Kate. Just to give you an idea, here are the titles of the next three chapters. Runnin' Down A Dream, Arlo's Decision, and Lustkiss Fruit.


	13. Runnin' Down A Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After running into Arlo in town, he invites Kate to join him on his morning runs where he reveals a bit more about himself to her, causing chaos within her heart and mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! Just wanted to let you know that the first two chapters have been polished recently and a few changes were made, fixing holes and fluffing them up to make them a bit more interesting. To get more updates and to see Chapter Art, check me out on Twitter @justkategaming. I hope you enjoy my homage to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in this chapter. This and the next two chapters are some of my favorites moments in the story.

It was a beautiful day, the sun beating down on the second day of summer. The temperature hadn’t quite risen too high yet but it was still warmer than when they first arrived in Portia. Kate enjoyed this kind of weather, it was perfect for jogging. Juliet had sent her away on some earnings this morning, she needed to grab some supplies in town. In a hurry, she ran into Central place, taking the corner quickly but so wasn’t somebody else from the opposite direction. She tried to stop herself in time but she bumped into whoever it was and started to fall forward. Whoever it was caught her before she fell. She looked up to see it was Arlo, he was breathing heavily from running. 

“We need to stop running into each other like this,” Kate told Arlo as she pushed herself out of his arms.

“Oh Kate, are you in a hurry this morning? Care to join me on my run?” Arlo asked her. He was smiling at her. He seemed very happy to see her.

“No...I was just...you know what, sure, I’ll join you on your run,” Kate stumbled on her words.

“Great, let’s go,” Arlo said excitedly, heading up ahead of her and waving her over to join him.

Kate followed behind Arlo. He turned back to look at her and said, “I really enjoy the Spaghetti with Hot Sauce you made for me. You’re a really good cook.”

Kate smiled back at him. “I’m glad you liked it so much.”

“How’s your sister this morning?” Arlo asked as they ran through Main Street.

“She’s doing better,” Kate told him.

“That's good,” Arlo said as he smiled at her. “How about Scraps, were you able to locate him last night?” he asked

They were making their way through Peach Plaza, Kate was getting a little winded already. She was a little upset about how easy he made it look. “Yeah, I think he found some old food from an old shelf from the ruins. He was digging through it,” she explained. 

Arlo chuckled at her as he took the gate out of town and started running towards the Tree Farm. Kate could barely keep up with him. It had been a while since she ran like this. She used to be able to run swiftly and parkour through the trees or the rooftops of a city but now she can barely stride behind Arlo. She admired his determination. She now understood why he was so fit. They stopped at the Tree Farm for a breather.

“Tired already? You should exercise more,” Arlo told her as he watched her bent over, trying to catch her breath.

Huffing for air, Kate reached for his shoulder and replied to him. “Arlo...is this your normal exercise routine, or are you training for a marathon?”

Arlo looked at her with a smirk “I'm glad you asked. I’m training to join the best adventures guild, The Flying Pigs. Their entrance exam is notoriously difficult, so I must prepare myself for the next opportunity.” He explained. Kate could see the gleam in his eyes as he spoke about this guild. It really meant a lot to him. However, she questioned his training methods. If he’s training for this exam, he was going to need to do more than just train with the training dummy and jog around town. 

“Thanks for accompanying me. I’ll go for a few more laps and finish up for the day.” Arlo told her as he gave her a pat on the shoulder and ran off. Kate waved him goodbye, however, she now realized she was on the other side of town and a lot farther from where she started when her sister sent her to get stuff in town. Juliet wasn’t going to be happy.

After traveling back into town Kate saw that the Schoolkids were outside on break. Polly was on the school steps, reading a book. Kate approached her.

“Polly, I managed to find Scraps last night in the Collapsed Wasteland,” Kate started to tell her but she got excited and interrupted.

“You found him! I can’t believe it!” She giggled in excitement. “I’m glad he’s okay.”

“Unfortunately, he ran off when I approached him,” Kate explained

“Don’t worry too much about that, he always did that to us as well. But if you give him some Dog Food, he’ll follow you back into town or the Peripheries if you try.” Polly giggled

Kate laughed. “Okay, Thanks, Polly, I’ll let you get back to your reading. Be sure to take a break from reading through. The mind needs rest and the body needs exercise.” Kate advised her as she started to make her way over to h Mars and Carol’s shops.

“Thank you, Ms. Kate, I’ll keep that in mind,” Polly told her as she waved Kate goodbye.

Kate walked over to Carol for her daily supply order. Carol was putting out a new outfit she had just made. It caught her eye, she loved the blue and purple colors. The only problem, it had a skirt. 

“Oh Kate, you like?” Carol asked as she noticed Kate staring at the garment. “I just finished this up last night. It’s made with really tough materials for ruin diving,”

“It looks great, but I’m not a fan of skirts,” Kate explained to Carol.

“That’s a shame, you have great legs. A skirt like that would look great on you.” CArol told her, trying to push her to buy it.

“You really think so?” Kate asked, looking the outfit over.

“I’m a tailor, It’s my job to know what looks good on my customers,” Carol said confidently.

Kate noticed the patches on the shoulders of pigs with wings. “Flying pigs?” Kate said to herself but Carol heard it anyway. Raising three daughters has taught her to listen for just away anything.

“Yeah, a lot of tourists are big fans of The Flying Pigs so when I got the pattern for this design I had to make it,” Carol explained to her.

Kate grabbed the price tag to look at and gave it a good thought. Arlo was training for the Flying pigs, would it look weird if she showed up wearing this? He was her friend, and she wanted to be supportive of him. Maybe she could be his number one fan someday. “Alright, I’ll take it, ring it up with my order,” 

“Fantastic, you won’t regret it,” Carol said excitedly as she took the outfit down.

Back home, Kate walked into the yard with the order and the new outfit in her arms. Making her way to the workbench to place the order down and the outfit, Juliet noticed her coming in and turned to watch her.

“Now what did you get extra?” Juliet asked as she watched her sister place the garment down.

“It’s just a new outfit Carol just finished making. She said it’s perfect for ruin diving. She used durable materials.” Kate explained to her sister as she started to organize the order before putting it away in the storage containers.

“Is that so you can go on an adventure with Arlo?” Juliet asked as she made her way over to Kate to help.

“What? No, why would he want to go ruin diving with me? He gets paid to do that, why would he want to go for fun?” Kate asked, confused by what her sister meant.

“I saw you two running this morning towards the tree farm,” Juliet explained as she picked up the fiber cloth and made her way to the storage containers. “You two looked like you were having a good time.”

“Oh..yeah, I ran into him in town this morning, quite literally when I was rushing to grab our order,” Kate explained as she blushed, embarrassed. “He invited me to join him. I was going to tell him, no but I ended accepting his invitation instead,”

“Well, at least you got some exercise for a change,” Juliet said jokingly.

“Hey, I’m always physically fit and in shape,” Kate said defensively. 

Juliet laughed at her sister. “You haven’t been out for a jog in over six months,”

“We both know that father wouldn’t let us leave the Palace after what happened,” Kate said, glaring at her sister.

Juliet stopped in her tracks. It was hard for her to handle even the mention of her father, let alone what happened to her.

Kate realized what she had done. “Julie, I’m sorry,” she told her sister. She walked over to her and wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tightly. As mad as she wanted to be at her sister, she wasn’t. She wrapped her arms around Kate in return, squeezing her back.

That evening Kate met up with Isaac. She figured he could trust his word. He’s held their family’s secret for a while now. He was pretty much the world historian. He was her only option for learning more about this world. The only speculation was, she had to play Cross Five with him. Despite his old age, he has a sharp mind and was a ruthless player.

“So you want to know more about the Flying Pigs,” Isaac said as he watched Kate place her piece on the board. 

“Yeah, Arlo told me it was one of the best Adventure’s guilds, but not being from this world, I know nothing about them,” Kate told Isaac as she watched him make his next move.

“The Flying Pigs first formed in the Free City of Lucien around the end of the Great Migration. Due to the constant conflict with the Empire of Duvos, the Flying Pigs gained prominence and recruited the best fighters and adventures from the Free Cities. They’re now one of the most known guilds in the world.” Isaac told her. She took her piece and placed it after his turn was done.

“Hmm, isn’t that what the Civil Corps do already, just more localized?” Kate asked, thinking about how the two groups didn’t sound so different. 

“In a sense yes,” Isaac replied as he placed his last piece, winning the matching. “You still need more practice, your father is a far better player then you,”

“That’s because no one can beat Death,” she said snarling. 

“I’m not dead yet,” Isaac said as she stood up to head home.

Kate got up early the next day and made her way to the dresser where her new outfit sat folded up on top. She picked it up and gave it a good thought before deciding to try it on. She didn’t want to give Arlo the wrong idea but she also wanted to be supportive of her friend. Staring at herself in the mirror, she could see what Carol meant, but she felt like a different person. Juliet was getting up behind her. She turned to look at her sister who was rubbing out morning crust from her eyes.

“You hate it don’t you,” Juliet asked, sleep eyed.

“I’m still not a fan of the skirt, it’s too short. At least it has shorts underneath, but I feel too feminine,” Kate told her sister as she tried to pull the skirt down lower to cover herself up more.

Juliet got up and headed to the dresser to get dressed. “Give it a chance, If you hate, I’ll wear it instead and you can go back to your old outfit,” Juliet told her sister as she grabbed a shirt and jeans.

“Alright,” Kate said as she gave herself a quick look in the mirror again.

Heading into town on their way to the Commerce Guild, Juliet and Kate ran into Arlo, he was making his way to their workshop. He was jogging with a letter in his hands.

“Good morning Arlo,” the girls chimed in together.

“Juliet, I’m glad to see you’re out and about today,” Arlo said as he approached them.

“Thanks,” Juliet replied as she smiled at him.

“Anyways, you two are just the girls I wanted to see this morning,” Arlo said 

“Why is that Arlo?” Kate asked.

Arlo held out the letter to Juliet, it was a list of supplies needed to repair an old pipe located above the Bassanio Falls.”We found the problem that’s causing the green goo in the water. We need a skilled builder to repair it and I can’t think of anyone more qualified than you two, especially seeing you two worked so hard on repairing the lift,” Juliet read it, going over the list and making mental notes of what they needed.

“This seems easy enough, thanks Arlo, we’ll get right on it this afternoon,” Juliet told Arlo, stuffing the letter into her bag.

“Great,” Arlo replied as looked at Kate, noticing her new outfit, sporting the flying pigs on the shoulders of the jacket. “Is that a new outfit? It looks good on you,” he told her as his cheeks lightly blushed.

“Thanks, Carol said she made it for ruin diving, so I thought I’d give it a try,” Kate told him, her cheeks flushed as well.

“I was just about to head out for another run, do you care to join me again?” He asked her. 

Kate looked at her sister. “If it’s okay with Juliet, I’d love to,”

“Go on, I can handle everything while you are gone, just come right back when you are done,” Juliet said, shooing her sister off.

“Perfect, let’s go,” Arlo said with excitement, running up ahead. Kate started following behind him, waving to her sister as she chased him down. She was able to catch up to him down by the riverbank where he had stopped for a breather. She stopped next to him, catching her breath as she was bent over, gasping for air.

“Arlo...you seem very capable already...Are you sure you need to push this hard?” Kate asked him as she continued to huff for more air.

Arlo didn’t respond right away. His usual happy tone was gone. “Yeah...I’m sure. I haven’t told anyone about this before but the reason I train so hard is..” He stopped for a moment. Whatever he was about to say had her full attention. She stood up straight to listen. “Because I failed the entrance exam several times already. I’m training for the next exam, I cannot fail again this time, so I must train harder!”

She looked at him with sorrowful eyes, she had sympathy for him. She knew what it was like trying to train to appease her father. “I’m so sorry Arlo..” but he stopped her from finishing what she was saying.

“It’s fine, I’m not going to give up, I’m determined,” Arlo told her. “Look at you, just from two days of running, you look tougher already! If you like, I can stop by the workshop every morning and we can go for a run together?” He asked her. She could tell he really wanted her to say yes. 

Thinking about it, she realized it would be way better than trying to get all the way up to the Civil Corps to train. Now he was willing to meet up with her at the workshop to jog. “I’d like that. I guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow then,”

“Great, I look forward to it,” Arlo said with a smirk on his face. He seemed very happy and pleased.

After Arlo headed off back into town. Kate looked down into the water of the river at her reflection. What she saw didn’t reflect her at all. She felt lost. Her father was gone. Her sister and uncle were the only two close family members she had now. Who she was and who she wanted to be were at war and the battlefield was her heart as well. She was starting to like Portia. She was making friends with the locals, some quicker than others. She and Arlo were already pretty close friends. Here he was sharing his dreams and goals with her and yet he knew nothing about her. 

Kate made her way back home to Juliet who was busy working on both the boombox for the Tree Farm and the materials for the broken pipe. Juliet could see the somber look on her face.

“Little goddess, what's with the gloomy face,” Juliet asked, saddened to see her sister upset.

Kate slumped down onto the stone table. “The past two mornings, Arlo has told me about his dreams and goals,” she explained.

Juliet looked at her concerned. “And this is a problem why?” she asked

“We have grown so close, he’s comfortable with telling me really personal things. He must really trust me, but once we are done with our mission, we’ll be gone and I’ll have to leave my friends behind. What’s the point?” Kate asked.

“You’ve grown very attached to Arlo, haven’t you?” Juliet asked.

Kate let out a big sigh. “Not just him, Portia too. I like it here. Everyone is so friendly and looks out for each other. It’s nothing like earth back home.” she explained.

“Once the mission is over, it won’t be safe for us to live here anymore. We’ll put everyone in danger.” Juliet told her.

“I know, that’s why it hurts,” Kate said sorrowfully. 

Juliet gave her sister a hug. She didn’t know what it was like to live like a human. She couldn’t relate but she knew her sister was in pain and needed her. “I have to admit, coming to Portia has been really good for us. It’s taught me a lot about being a human and being your sister. I find myself still learning every day.” 

Kate smiled, hugging her sister tighter. “Yeah, I really enjoy the friendship we’ve made this past season together. Even with dad is gone now, It’s nice knowing I have someone who I can count on and be my sister.”

Juliet smiled too. “I really enjoy having you as a sister too and I’m glad we are here for each other. I grew up alone and didn’t know what real affection was until I met you. Thank you for bringing the light to my life.”

“No problem,” Kate said with a big smile on her face.

The next day, Kate was up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She rushed through her morning routine to get ready, whirlwind around the house as her sister sat and watched. Rushing out the door she found Arlo waiting for her at the gate. He seemed to be nervous a bit but lit up when he noticed her making her way over to him.

“Are you ready to go? I’ve got a new route for us today.” Arlo asked as she approached him on the road. 

“Yeah, lead the way,” Kate told him with a smile on her face.

“Great, come on then, I think you’ll really enjoy where we’re going today,” Arlo said as he started running towards town.

Kate chased after him, catching up to him as they reached the town. Arlo smiled as he turned to see she had caught up to him. He could see she was already improving. They ran through town to the other gate. He made a b line for the waterfall. She was caught off guard by his sudden change of direction but she corrected herself quickly and caught back up with him. They stopped beside the waterfall. Kate stopped to catch her breath but she wasn’t sure why Arlo chose to jog here. She had been here before, this was where the Fishing Tournament was. She didn’t mind coming here, she loved the river but it’s been polluted for a week now. It wasn’t as pretty as it was before.

“I’m quite impressed, You’ve made a lot of progress in just a few days,” Arlo told her as he sat down by the tree to catch his breath and rest.

Kate turned away, looking into the river as the waterfall crashed into the water. “You really think so?”

“Oh yeah. You were struggling to catch up with me when we first started jogging together and now you can almost run alongside me.” Arlo said with a big smile on his face. “Come sit down and rest,” he said as he patted the ground next to him, trying to beckon her to sit next to him. 

“I’m sorry, I have to get going. Juliet needs me at home,” Kate said as she started to walk away.

Arlo was confused. Did he say something wrong or did it have to do with whatever she’s been hiding from him? He wanted to stop her but he felt like she would just push him away more so he let her go. Hopefully, whatever it was that was bothering her wasn’t because of him.

At home, Kate made it into the yard. Juliet could tell her sister was still upset but she chose not to bother her this time. Instead, she chose to talk about work. “Good, your home, I need you to run to the ruins and scout out some small silicon chips.” Juliet told her.

Kate was surprised by her sister. She didn’t expect her to shout orders the minute she came walking in. “Okay, I just got home but if it’s urgent,”

“Yes, I want to get the Tree Farm project moving along before we get too busy,” Juliet told her as she pushed her out the gate.

Kate spent the rest of the day in the ruins by the Civil Corps trying to find the small silicone chips. They were really rare and it took her a long time just to find one. It took her many more just to get the second one. It was late by the time she got out of the ruins. She headed back home, taking her time as she walked through the park. She was by a familiar face halfway through. It was Arlo who was making his way back to the Civil Corps after spending the evening at the Round Table. 

“Oh, Arlo,” Kate said surprisingly as they stood in front of each other. “It seems like no matter the time of the day we seem to run into each other,”

Arlo was surprised to see her. He was sure she’d be in bed by now. “Yeah, funny how that seems to happen a lot,” he replied.

“I’m sorry for walking away without saying goodbye earlier,” Kate apologized. 

Arlo smiled. “It’s fine, you seem to be lost in thought,” he told her.

“Yeah, I have a lot on my mind these days. I just needed time to go sort it out,” Katee told him.

Arlo’s smile faded away and a look of concern replaced it. “You want to talk about it?” he asked.

Kate hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Not really...Don’t get me wrong. I trust you but it’s not something I can easily share with you.” she told him.

“I see,” Arlo replied.

“It’s late anyway, I need to get home. I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Kate told him as she headed off, waving goodbye. Arlo watched her walk away, waving back at her until she was out of sight. He was confused about what was troubling her and concerned she was in trouble.


	14. Arlo's Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The friendship between Arlo and Kate continues to grow as they continue to meet up in the morning for runs but after a playdate with Nora, Arlo does not show up the following morning. Thinking Arlo is sick, Kate runs soup up to the Civil Corps for him but finds that he is in good health and asking her for some relationship advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I said the next Chapter was going to be called Lustkiss Fruit but I lied. The Next Chapter is a short one called The Rat King and then we move into The Lustkiss Fruit, which will explain more about why Kate and Juliet came to Portia and why they can't stay.

The next day Arlo showed up early again to meet with Kate. He watched her walk out of the house. Her smile was as bright as the sun and she seemed to be in good spirits. This was relieving to him after how upset she’s been these past few days.

“Are you ready?” Arlo asked as Kate approached him.

“Always,” Kate replied, still smiling brightly. The sight of her almost made him blush.

“Great, we’re gonna go back to the waterfall today. You take the lead this time,” Arlo told Kate, waiting for her to take the lead.

Kate was hesitant to get going but she took his request seriously. She made a hard start as Arlo watched her. He started up behind her, catching up almost instantly. He watched her hair flowing behind her. It was beautiful and looked like ribbons flowing in the wind. He wasn’t paying any attention to how far they ran. They were already at the eastern gate. He couldn’t understand why she was so irresistible right now. She looked so cute in her Flying Pigs Uniform. As she stopped by the waterfall and turned around to look at him, her hair swirled around her. The light shining off the water sparkled behind her.

“Arlo, are you okay?” Kate asked as she brushed her hair out of her face.

Arlo snapped out of his trance. “Yeah, I’m fine. You did great today,” he told her.

“Are you sure you are okay? You look a little redder than usual after this run, you’re not sick are you?” Kate asked as she went over to him, pulling off her glove so she could place her hand on his forehead.

Arlo was surprised to see Kate touching his forehead. His face blushed even more. She was so caring and her hand was so soft. He pulled her hand down from his forehead. “I’m fine, but thank you for your concern,” he told her.

“At least take it easy today, for me?” Kate asked with worried eyes. 

Arlo smiled at her. “I’ll do my best,” he told her.

Kate’s cheeks turned red. She turned away from him. “I should get going.” She told him as she placed her glove back on and started to walk away.

“Yeah, I should be going too,” Arlo said to her as she turned to look at him before running off to head home.

On her way home, Kate ran into Emily outside the workshop. She seemed to be down. Juliet noticed Kate talking to Emily and made her way over. Her watermelon she was planning on entering the festival stopped growing and she didn’t know what to do. Kate and Juliet tried to cheer her up but nothing seemed to do the trick. Kate suggests going to the Round Table for a round of drinks. Emily liked the idea and suggested the Rainbow Lemonade. After a few drinks, Emily challenged Kate and Juliet to a round of darts. She was amazed by their skill. After the game, Kate and Juliet headed home.

“How was your run today?” Juliet asked as they exited the Round Table.

“I was fine, but Arlo didn’t look so well towards the end. He was a bit redder than normal after our run. He’s been pushing himself a lot lately. I asked him to take it easy for the rest of the day but I doubt he’ll listen to me.” Kate explained to her as they walked through the plaza.

“Well here’s hoping he’s better tomorrow. Now, we need to get to the Tree Farm, the boombox is ready.” Juliet told her.

“Perfect,” Kate said, glad to hear her sister was able to finish it with the lack of help she had given lately.

After picking up the boombox at the workshop. Juliet and Kate walked over to the Tree Farm, enjoying the summer breeze through the edge of the forest. It was a nice change from the town or the open fields of the countryside. Upon arrival, they were greeted by Aadit at the gate.

“Good afternoon Aadit,” Kate smiled. “We think we have to solution to the Panbat infestation.”

“Fantastic,” Aadit said cheerfully. 

Aadit escorted the girls into the Tree Farm, Dawa was too far away. He was pleased to see them with the boombox in hand.

“Please tell me you’re here with a solution,” Dawa pleaded.

“Yeah, the Research Center seems to think the sound will help. We made this relic called a boombox. Hopefully, it can make enough noise to scare them off or at least make them passive.” Juliet explained.

“Do you think it will work?” Dawa asked.

“It should,” Kate told him as she placed the boombox down facing the Panbats.

“I’m afraid of relics, the church told us to use as little of them as possible. Bad things always happen when they are used.” Aadit said nervously.

“You’re afraid of everything, “ Dawa told him.

The sister giggled at each other. Turning their attention to the boombox, they switched it on. Soothing music started to play and the agitated Panbats began to calm down and rest in the trees.

“I can’t believe it, they’re peaceful now!” Dawa said, amazed.

“That actually worked! Haha..I’ll have to order more of these in the future,” Aadit laughed. He turned to look at the girls, seeking out more help. “Now that the panbats are peaceful, we need to move quickly to heal our trees. The panbats sucked a lot of water and nutrients out of them. We need a fast way to restore them. We’ll commission you for the job, are you interested?” Aadit asked them.

“Of course we will. We aren’t too busy right now.” Juliet told Aadit.

“Great!” He said excitingly. “Petra mentioned something about an irrigation system when I talked to her. Maybe you should go check in with her,” He suggested.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Kate told him.

As Kate and Juliet started to pack up, Dawa pulled them to the side. “I need ya to make me something. Aadit has been waking up in the middle of the night screaming and making a lot of noise: weird stuff! He even came and pulled my covers off me last night, so... yeah I gotta do something. Could you make him a new pillow or something? Maybe that'll keep him from waking up.”

“Sure thing,” Kate told him with a smile.

“Great! Just get him one as soon as you can, my tree choppin' chops are suffocatin' lately!” Dawa complained.

Kate and Juliet left the Tree Farm and made their way to the Research Center where they found Petra hard at work as usual. She was more than happy to help but, of course, she required a data disc to help her with her research. Kate had plenty on hand. She was starting to feel like a drug dealer and her supply as data discs.

Back home, Kate and Juliet made a pillow for Aadit and rushed it back to the Tree farm. Aadit was surprised to see them back so soon but told him that the pillow wouldn’t help him from having nightmares and told them that the only thing that ever helped him get a good night's sleep was his mother’s lullaby, but sadly he was a grown man and his mother had passed. Kate suggested a music box and Aadit agreed it was worth a try.

Later that night Arlo met with Nora like he does every Wednesday and Friday nights. She seemed very nervous. He was pretty confused. It was starting to feel like all the girls in this town was acting oddly. He greeted her as she approached him.

“Evening Nora, I’ve got a great story for you today, ready to hear it?” Arlo asked her joyfully as she stopped to stand next to him.

“Always,” Nora told him, smiling.

Arlo began to tell her about his recent exploration of the Collapsed Wasteland and the monsters he came across. He told her about how strong they were but they were no match for him. She swooned over his story. To her, he was amazing. He was strong and brave. He was kind-hearted and selfless. As he finished his story. Nora worked up the courage to tell him something.

“Arlo, I’ve been meaning to tell you something for a while now,” Nora said nervously. 

“What up?” Arlo asked.

Nora reached in her bag, pulling out a red heart-shaped object. Arlo recognized it instantly as Heart Knot, used for confessing love to another person. “Arlo, I really enjoy our dates and meeting you here, listening to your stories. You’re a really great guy and I think...I’m in love with you. I’d like to give us a try at a relationship together.” She said holding the Heart Knot out to him.

“Oh..well, that’s..” Arlo stuttered. He couldn’t tell her yes. He only ever saw her as a little sister. “Can I think about it before giving you my answer?” he asked her.

Nora was disappointed but nodded yes “Of course…” she replied, trying not to cry, she turned away. She was worried Arlo didn't feel the same. “Wow, look at the time, it’s really late, I need to get home and head to bed.” Nora turned to look at him to wave goodbye before running down the hill. 

Arlo stood at the well, staring up at the night sky. He was confused and didn’t know what to do. He liked telling Nora his stories but he didn’t see her that way. In fact, it wasn’t till today that he started having any interest in anyone. He has been enjoying his time training with Kate. They’ve become fast friends in the short time she’s been here. She’s strong, courageous, and kind-hearted but the last thing he wanted was a relationship with either of the two girls. Arlo stood there for a few more hours. Just staring up at the sky, trying to find an answer.

The next day, Kate once again rushed to get ready for the day. Today was going to be another busy day. Not only did she have to meet up with Arlo for a jog but Juliet and she were going to repair the pipe at WOW Industries. Hopping on one foot, trying to get her other boot on, Juliet reminded Kate that she needed to come straight home after she was done jogging with Arlo.

“Don’t take all day with Arlo today okay? We have a busy day,” Juliet told her sister.

“Yes, yes, I know. I should be home by noon.” Kate replied.

Kate made her way out the door, expecting Arlo to be standing by the gate waiting for her but he wasn’t. She thought maybe he was running late so she waited. Juliet came out of the house. Surprised to see her sister waiting at the stone table.

“Where’s Arlo?” Juliet asked her sister as she made her way over to Kate.

“I don’t know, he hasn’t shown up..” Kate said as she let out a big sigh.

“Maybe he’s sick. You said he didn’t look well after your jog yesterday. Why don’t you bring him some soup, there’s some Spicy Fish Stew in the fridge.” Juliet told her.

“You’re right. I’ll go get the soup now and bring it up to him.” Kate said as she stood up and ran to the house.

There wasn’t much in the fridge so she found the soup instantly in a container on the top shelf. She picked it up and placed it in her bag. Closing the fridge door behind her, she made her way out of the house. She wasted no time making her way up to the Civil Corps. As she opened the door and entered, she found Arlo pacing the floor, deep in thought. He didn’t notice her coming in or the fact that she was making her way over to him.

“Arlo, are you okay?” Kate asked as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Oh, hey there Kate,” Arlo said, surprised to see her standing there. He turned around to face her. “Do you have a moment?” he asked.

“What up?” Kate asked with a concerned look on her face.

“It’s..something personal. I would like your option on the matter, but can you promise you won’t tell anyone?” Arlo asked, placing his hands on her shoulders.

Kate looked at him confused. Arlo wanted her option on something personal? “Your secret is safe with me,” she told him.

“Thanks,” Arlo replied, pausing for a moment before saying something more. “How about we walk to Central Plaza first? Some scenery would help ease the mood.” He stared her down, deep into her eyes. It felt like he was looking into her soul. He had to know, even if he didn’t ask her directly. He needed to have some kind of idea of how she felt about him.

“Sure,” Kate replied nervously. Scenery? Mood? What was Arlo going to tell her? Was he going to confess his love for her? She wasn’t going to lie, she did find him attractive and she enjoys training with him but they are from two different worlds. Kate would be leaving when her mission was done and he would eventually join The Flying Pigs, right? He didn’t need her complicating his life like that.

As they made their way down the hill to Central Plaza, Kate made small talk to ease the silence. “I thought you were sick when you didn’t show up this morning, I even brought you some Spicy Fish Stew,” she told him.

“Oh...no, I’m fine, but thanks for worrying about me,” Arlo said, smiling at her. “You can still give me that soup, however,” he said, winking at her.

“I think that can be arranged,” Kate said as she smiled back at him.

They made their way down into the plaza where they headed towards the far side wall where the benches stood. They sat down together. Arlo was quiet, still lost in thought as he looked down at his hands that were fingered locked together. Katee could tell he was still trying to figure out what to say so she waited patiently for him. 

“Last night, Nora, the pretty missionary girl laid out her feelings for me on a date but I didn’t really give her a response yet...” Arlo started to explain to her. ”I wasn’t expecting it honestly. I like telling her stories about my adventures but I’ve always seen her as a little sister,” he paused, trying to wrap his thoughts about what he was going to say next. “It’s not that I don’t find her attractive, but I’m all about the Civil Corps right now. I’m hesitant to accept her feelings. It would be a big change for me. If I get into a relationship, I’ll need to prioritize my time with her and I don’t want to get into something that isn’t going to work out. What do you think?” he asked, looking her in the eyes, hoping to see some kind of emotion from her.

Kate froze, her heart sank and her mind started buzzing with thought. She felt like a deer in headlights. Arlo wanted her to tell him whether or not he should consider Nora’s feelings. She tried to focus her thoughts, trying to put the clues together. Arlo said he only saw her as a little sister but he did say he found her attractive. He also said he’s really focused on the Civil Corps right now and he’d have to make time for her. Would that mean Arlo would have no time for her if he started dating Nora? Kate didn’t want to lose her friendship with Arlo.

“I don’t think I’m the best person to be giving out relationship advice but it doesn’t seem like you two are that compatible,” Kate told him.

“You’re right, she is a bit younger than me, and we're sort of world’s apart,” Arlo explained.

“Now hold on, she’s not that much younger than you or I,” Kate said, glaring at him. Arlo chuckled at her but before he could speak she chimed in once more. Kate tried to fight it but her cheeks turned rose-colored. “but you deserve someone who supports your dreams and wants to help you achieve them,” she told him.

Arlo smiled at her. “You’re right,” he said as placed his hand on her shoulder, looking over at her. “Thanks...Talking it out with you helped me out. I’ll go have a chat with her.” Arlo stood up and took a few steps forward. He turned back to look at Kate. “I’ll see you later,” he told her, giving her a quick salute goodbye.

As Arlo made his way back towards the Civil Corps, Kate sat at the bench, lost in thought. Did she make the right choice in telling Arlo not to pursue Nora? It felt more like she was trying to keep him from Nora. Kate definitely was no goddess of love. She could talk to Juliet, but she promised Arlo she wouldn’t tell anyone about this. Unfortunately, it now had her lost and needing advice. Though she never spoke to her father before about her love life, she kinda wishes he was still here for advice.

Kate made her way back to the workshop, it was Saturday so there were no commissions. Juliet was busy cleaning the workshop up. She noticed Kate making her way into the yard. She could see her sister was upset yet again after being with Arlo.

“What happened Little Goddess?” Juliet asked as she made her way over to her sister who was now sitting at the stone table. 

“I promised Arlo I wouldn’t tell anyone about it but…” Kate started to explain to Juliet.

“But it’s causing you pain,” Juliet said concerningly. 

“I’ve never felt so lost before coming here. I always understand who we are and why we could never have a normal life, but now, being here in Portia and hanging out with Arlo, for a moment, I escape that reality.” Kate explained.

“Did Arlo confess his feelings for you?” Juliet asked, curious about what he must have told her.

“No, he didn’t. I think even if he did, it would have been easier to deal with. He asked me for my advice instead.” Kate explained.

“About what?” Juliet asked.

“I promised Arlo I wouldn’t tell anyone about this, so please don’t repeat any of this to Remington,” Kate begged Juliet.

“I promise,” Juliet told Kate.

“Last night Nora, the missionary girl confessed her feelings for Arlo. He couldn’t give her an answer. So when I showed up at the Civil Corps, he was pacing the floors, deep in thought.” Kate took a deep breath and exhaled out. “Arlo asked me if I had a moment to talk with him about something personal and if we could go down to Central Plaza for a change in scenery. I was panicking at this point because I thought he was going to confess his feelings to me. I wasn’t expecting him to ask me for relationship advice.” she explained to Juliet.

“What did you tell him?” Juliet asked her.

“I tried to think it through based on all the information he gave me but my head and heart have been at war with each other for the past few days already.” Kate’s face turned beet red. She was ashamed of herself. “Arlo told me that he enjoyed telling Nora his adventure stories and he did find her attractive but only saw her as a younger sister and he was more focused on the Civil Corps. He was worried about making enough time for her and worried his job was too dangerous. He didn’t want anyone to have to worry about him.”

“What did you tell him?” Juliet asked her again, now sounding a little more serious.

“I told him I didn’t think Nora was compatible with him and I told him he deserved someone who could support his dreams, help him achieve them. I’m worried I made this based on my own personal feelings, worrying he wouldn’t have time to hang out with me but at the same time I feel like she’s just too different from him” she confessed.

“I see,” Juliet said as she crossed her arms. “I can’t say I’ve ever been in your situation before, but it seems like you made the best choice based on what you were given, even if it fell into your favor.”

“It still feels awful,” Kate told her, turning her face away in embarrassment. 

“You have a kind heart, someone would say that is a weakness, but I say that makes you better,” Juliet told her.

Kate reached over to her sister, giving her a hug. Tears started to roll down her face. “I miss dad. I wish he was here to fix this.”

“I miss dad too, but I doubt he would help you. If anything, he would probably work against your favor,” Juliet told her, squeezing her tighter.

“I know,” Kate said as she snuffled.

“If you really like Arlo and want to continue to live here in Portia. I won’t stand in your way. Whatever it takes, I’ll help you achieve your dream.” Juliet told her.

“But if I stay here, I’ll put everyone in danger.” Kate sobbed.

“Whatever it takes, we’ll protect them, together. I want to stay here too, with you.” Juliet told her.

Kate squeezed her sister tighter. “I love you, Juliet.”

“I love you too, Kate,” Juliet pulled away from her sister. Holding her shoulders, she looked her in the eyes. “Come on, we have a pipe to repair. It’ll get your mind off of Arlo.” Juliet told her. Kate nodded and the two of them stood up to get ready.


	15. The Rat King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet and Kate make their way into WOW Industries to repair the broken pipe where they meet up with Sam who's been investigating the mystery behind why it was broken that leads them into a new adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holiday and New Year Everyone. The next chapter won't be up till after the holidays.

Juliet and Kate arrived at the WOW Industries to find Sam inside, inspecting the pipe they were about to repair as they walked in. Sam noticed the girls instantly and turned around to look at them as they approached her.

“You two here to repair the pipe?” Sam asked

“Yeah, what are you doing here? Investigating?” Kate asked

Sam nods. “We think someone intentionally broke the pipe. You can see handprints on the pipe. Now, who would want to do that?” she asked, stroking her chin, deep in thought.

“Hmm, does Gale have any enemies?” Juliet asked.

Sam laughed. “Ha, that would be interesting. I'm sure the mayor has his share of detractors out there.”

The two girls fixed the pipe as Sam made her way around the room looking for any more evidence but there didn’t seem to be anymore. She was amazed at how fast and efficient the girls worked. No wonder Arlo was so persistent in getting them for the job. As the two girls finished, Sam walked over to them to inspect their work.

“Great job you two,” Sam praised them.

As Kate and Juliet stood up to talk to Sam, the pipe above them started to rattle and make strange noises. A rush of sewage came pouring out of the pipe, pushing the three girls into the hole behind them down into the sewer system. It was a big drop and Kate was surprised she survived it without breaking a bone. 

Kate rubbers her head as she sits up looking around the area for Juliet and Sam. “Julie! Sam! You two okay?” she calls out.

“I”m okay,” Juliet called back. She wasn’t too far from her sister, trying to collect herself as well as she sat up.

“Sam?” Kate calls out to her once more, worried Sam wasn’t alright.

“I’m here,” Sam called back. She too wasn’t too far either but took longer to get herself back up. “I’m fine.”

“Where are we?” Kate asked as she stood up.

“I don't know... no one's been in this ruin before. Looks like it's part of the sewage system.” Sam explained. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

A mysterious voice called out from deep below within the ruin. “If thou dare, cometh at me three floors down!”

“Oh! This sounds like a challenge. It's probably the villain, let's check it out.” Same said excitingly

“Sounds like somebody read a little too much Shakespeare to me…” Kate mumbled. Juliet jabbed her sister into the ribs. Thankfully Sam didn’t hear her as she was already making her way farther into the ruin.

The girls followed behind Sam. The first room had many tunnels locked off, preventing them from going any farther. Kate noticed one gate still open on the button, being held open by a box with just enough crawl space for them to get through.

“Look there, we can get through there,” Kate tells them, pointing to the gate.

“Nice find, stick close to me okay,” Sam said as she made her way over to it.

The three girls make their way through only to find the ruin was filled with Bandirats. Just when Kate thought they were done dealing with all the rats, they came crawling back. The sewer itself was a maze. It was harder to navigate without magic but Kate and Juliet managed. They could risk trying to use it behind Sam’s back, in case she caught wind of it.

Juliet was straggling behind, checking for anything useful. It was at this time Sam mustered up the courage to speak with Kate. “So you and Arlo have become pretty good friends this past season,” she commented as Kate reaches into her bag for some water.

“Yeah...I suppose we have,” Kate replied, then stopping for a moment to take a sip of water.

“Are you two...dating?” Sam asked.

Kate spit takes the water she had just sipped on.“What? No...we’re just friends. I’m not looking for anything serious with anyone.” Kate replied, astonished she would ask such a thing.

Sam looked a little disappointed. “That’s too bad, I think you and Arlo would be a cute couple,” she told her.

Kate looked at her confused. This girl didn’t know her. Sam only saw what Kate allowed her to see. The builder Kate, from Barnarock. The persona that was built for the humans of this town. “Sorry Sam, I know he’s your team leader and all, but I’m not interested in having that kind of relationship with Arlo,” Kate told her.

Thankfully at that moment, Juliet caught up to them, saving Kate from more of Sam’s pestering about her and Arlo. They had finally reached the third floor below, it was only a matter of time till they walked into whomever it was that called out to them. There was an area of platforms up ahead. Sam was weary the girls would be able to make the jumps but before she could say a thing, Kate and Juliet were both jumping across gracefully. She was quite impressed they could keep their poise while jumping across. She knew she couldn’t, not that she wanted to.

They made it to their destination. A large chunky rat with a crown on his head stood before them with a small army of bandirats. He looked angrily at them. “Art thou the one that ended my son?!” The rat King called out.

The Rat King was looking for a fight and Kate was just in the mood to give one to him. “Yes! I was the one who ended your son!” she taunted.

The Rat King let out a loud roar “O thou shall regret the day!”

Kate gestured him over, standing in a fighting stance.“Bring it, big boy!”

Sam wasn’t having any of this and pushed Kate back behind her, knocking Kate to the ground. Sam lunged forward as tried to take on the Rat Army by herself but was knocked back by some of the rats as they barraged her with a group attack, knocking her down to a platform below with rats following behind her.

“Sam!” Both Juliet and Kate called out to Sam as they watched her fall over, worried she might have fallen to her death.

Sam gets to her feet quickly and yells back to them. “I’m fine, Don’t worry about me, worry about yourselves,” she tells them.

Sam was right, They had more problems then she did. As the brigade of rats made their way to them, Kate pulled out the sword. They lunged at her and Juliet, so she began to strike back at them with her sword, knocking them all backward away. Juliet pulls her sword as well, joining her sister as she takes on two of the rats knocking them back as well. They were easy to defeat but that wasn’t anything new. They had been skin rats this whole time through the sewer system. It was the Rat King Kate was worried about.

The Rat King was furious about the defeat of his minions. He let out a roar and charged for the girls. For a big boy, he was fast and he knew how to push his weight around. Kate rolled out of the way as he charged for her. He was out for her blood. He clanked his mace and makeshift shield. Taunting her. She was sick of these rats. Looking at Juliet for support who gave her a nod, they ran at the Rat King with full force. Kate leaped up onto the Rat King’s back as Juliet kept his attention on her. He tried to scratch her off but his arms were too short. She lunged her sword straight into his chest, deep into the heart. Ending him the same way she ended his son. Kate jumped off as the Rat King fell to the ground. Sam pulls herself up to see Kate and Juliet Standing over the Rat King’s body. She makes her way over to them. 

Standing between them Sam puts her hands on their shoulders. “Not too bad, now let's get out of here,” she tells them.

They make their way out of the room and back into more tunnels, running into a control system for the sewer. Juliet and Kate turned a large valve together that was rusted and hard to turn. They managed to get it to turn it all the way. In doing so, it turned the sewage water from polluting the town’s water. They were free to leave,

Sam held back as the two sisters headed out. They stop to look at her. “You coming too, Sam?” Kate asked.

“I'm going to stay and look around some more, you go tell the Mayor about this,” Sam replied.

“Alright, be safe in there,” Kate said as she waved to her and made her way out with Juliet.

“Don’t worry, I will,” Sam said, waving back at her.

Heading back into town, Juliet and Kate took the time getting there to talk while it was quiet. It was late afternoon, almost evening. Everything seemed to be settling down in Portia. 

“How are you doing?” Juliet asked as she turned to look at Kate.

“I’m fine, I got out of there without a scratch, you don’t have to worry about me,” Kate told her sister.

“That’s not what I was referring to, I wanted to know how you are feeling,” Juliet corrected her.

“Well, It was nice to forget about my problems while we were in the ruins facing the Rat King and his army but now that you bring it up, I’m hanging in there. It doesn’t help that we are dealing with our father’s death as well.” Kate explained.

“Yeah,” was all Juliet could say.

They found the Mayor outside, looking at the fountain that was no longer sporting the green goo that once flooded the town’s water. Explaining the situation with the pipe and the Rat King to the Mayor, he was surprised but joyful everything was handled.

“A talking rat?” The Mayor laughed ”That's a grand tale. But then again, there are strange tales about monsters from the Periphery, so I'm not surprised. But, the good news is that the goo's all gone, so thank you for your work! Let me give you some compensation!” He handed them gols as payment for their troubles.

Kate was exhausted and ready for bed. She was contemplating calling it early and heading to bed. Her sister agreed that she deserved it.

That night Arlo waited at the base of the church ruin, waiting for Nora to make her way down from the top. He was nervous but he knew what he needed to do. As Nora made her way down, his nerves got worse. She noticed him as she turned the corner.

“Arlo, what are you doing here?” Nora asked, surprised to see him standing there.

“I came to give you my answer,” Arlo told her as he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease himself in to tell her.

This piqued Nora’s interest. “Oh? Before you say anything...I want you to have this,” Nora said, pulling out something from her satchel and handing it to Arlo.

Arlo reached out to grab the item. “Oh...I wasn’t expecting you to give me anything…” he said nervously. It was a small round fruit he had never seen before. “What is it?” he asked.

“I don’t remember what the Mysterious Salesman said it was, but he gave it to me in exchange for seeds from the Church and said you would love it,” Nora explained as she smiled at Arlo.

“Oh...thanks,” Arlo said, placing the fruit in his bag.

Nora looked at him eagerly. She wanted to know his answer. “So...you were going to tell me your answer...” she said to him.

Arlo took a big gulp nervously, hesitating to speak. “Look...I’m sorry, but I don’t share the same feelings as you. There are many reasons why you and I wouldn’t work out,” he explained.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I’m all about the Civil Corps right now and my dream of becoming a Flying Pig. Getting into a relationship would set me back. You’re a sweet kind-hearted girl, focused on your mission. You deserve someone who shares your dreams.” Arlo explained.

Nora wanted to argue with him about it but she understood where he was coming from even if she disagreed with him. Nora looked at Arlo as she remembered seeing him jogging with Kate a few times this week. “Is...there someone else?” she asked.

Arlo’s face turned red in embarrassment. Nora wasn’t wrong, he was starting to grow feelings towards Kate but it was too soon for him to say what it was. “Sort of,” he replied.

Nora was upset, but she knew she couldn’t force someone into a relationship who didn’t share the same feelings. “I understand...I better get going, I have church service in the morning,” she told him as she started making her way home towards the Happy Apartments.

Arlo watched her walk away. He wanted to stop her, apologize and explain himself but he knew that wasn’t going to help any. Nora needed time to sort things out and so didn’t he. Arlo now had to sort out his feelings for Kate. What did she mean to him and what did he mean to her?


	16. The Lustkiss Fruit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arlo shows up unexpectedly for another jog with Kate. As the rest by the Bassanio Falls following their jog, Arlo offers to share a mysterious fruit with Kate that could change their friendship forever.

Kate started her day thinking everything was going to go normal especially after Arlo told her about Nora confessing her feelings to him. Kate was still upset at herself for being selfish in telling him not to pursue Nora even though she knew she couldn’t have a future with him. Kate found herself growing attached to Arlo after getting closer to him and learning about his dreams. Yet Arlo knew nothing about her. Kate was still worried, even though Arlo said he saw Nora as a little sister, he did admit he found Nora attractive as well. Though Juliet tried to comfort her last night and encouraged Kate to seek out her dreams, she knew the dream of having someone special, settling down with them, and having a family of her own was just that, a dream.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, Kate made her way outside to the workshop, munching on a piece of toast that hung out her mouth. She wanted to get straight to work but she found Arlo waiting patiently for her by the gate. He seemed nervous, more than usual. His eyes lit up at the sight of her and jumped at the chance to speak with her.

Arlo started to chuckle at the sight of the toast hanging from her mouth. “Eating on the go this morning?” he asked.

Kate took the toast out of her mouth as she approached the gate. “Yeah…What are you doing here?’ Kate asked.

“I’m here for our morning run,” Arlo replied.

“I wasn’t expecting you this morning,” Kate told him as she stared at him. 

“You think after saving the town, I’d let you off that easily?” Arlo chuckled. “You’re my favorite running buddy,”

“Oh, well how can I say no then,” Kate giggled as her face blushed.

“Great, let’s go!” Arlo said as he held the gate open for her. 

They started their jog by making their way into town, running through the streets as the town got ready for the day. Most of the town was used to seeing Arlo and Kate jog together but they still whispered among themselves, watching the two run side by side. Kate would normally pay attention to this but today she wondered if Arlo had talked to Nora yet, so she started up a conversation.

“Were you able to speak to Nora yet?” Kate asked as they made their way into Central Plaza. She was curious to know if he had actually gone through with it.

“Yeah, I met with her last night on her way home from the Church. Why do you ask?” Arlo inquired, looking at her curiously.

“I was just wondering if she handled it well?’ Kate asked as she ran alongside him.

“Yeah, she took it very well and understood completely..” Arlo told her.

Kate couldn’t tell by his facial expression how he felt about it though. Arlo was very neutral like he had his best poker face on. “That's good,” Kate said, semi-relieved to hear.

Arlo was ready to change the subject so he began to talk about her recent adventure in WOW Industries.“Sam told me about how you handled the Rat King. I think it’s safe to say we’ll be depending on you and your sister should ever a situation happen again.” he told her.

“I was just doing what anyone else would do in such a situation,” Kate told him, trying to brush it off like it was no big deal.

“Not everyone would go running into danger head-on like that. Some would choose to run away if they could.” Arlo explained.

“I guess that's just who I am,” Kate replied as she smiled.

Arlo smiled back. Kate was brave, strong, caring, beautiful, and becoming more alluring every day but did she feel the same about him? Was he risking his dreams for someone who could never return his feelings? It was too early to say really. Maybe it was best they just stay friends for now and see where things go.

They made their way out of the plaza and into the countryside as they made their way to the Waterfall. Kate enjoyed this part of the jog because the waterfall was her favorite feature in Portia. Kate was feeling cheery and playful so she ran ahead of Arlo.

“Come on old man, you getting tired already?” Kate shouted, taunting Arlo which caused him to push himself as he chased after her. 

When Arlo finally caught up to Kate, she had already made it to the waterfall. He ran up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, locking her in his grasp. “I’m an old man now huh?” he asked as he squeezed her tightly, enabling her from breaking free from his grasp.

“Haha, okay, okay, I’m sorry for calling you an old man.” Kate giggled, wiggling in his arms, trying to break free.

Arlo gave in and let her go, making his way over to the tree by the waterfall where he sat down to rest, grabbing for water out of his bag. Kate took a moment to look at the water as it bubbled and rushed as the water fell from above. Kate turned to look at Arlo, who was full of smiles and tired once more to gesture to her to sit down. This time she accepted his invitation.

Arlo took a gulp of water before speaking. “I’ve really enjoyed running with you these past few days,” he told her.

“I really enjoyed running with you as well, thanks for asking me to join you. It’s a nice break from the workshop” Kate said as she grabbed for her bottle.

“Your welcome,” Arlo smirked as he looked at her. He reached into his bag and started to pull something from within it. “Hey, Nora gave me this new fruit last night. Said she got it from the Mystery Salesman when he was in town last. You want to give it a try with me?” Arlo asked as he pulled out a small round fruit. Kate had a feeling she had seen this fruit before but she couldn’t remember where? She’s seen so many different odd-looking produce in this world alone.

“Sure, I’d love to,” Kate said with a cheerful smile.

“Great, I was nervous about trying it myself to be honest. ” Arlo said as he pulled out a small pocket knife and started cutting into the fruit, handing Kate a piece.

“What is it?” Kate asked as she took a piece from Arlo.

“I’m not sure, Nora said she couldn’t remember the name of it which is odd for her seeing she can remember the names of many different types of flora just in this region alone,” Arlo commented as he cut himself a piece.

Tapping their pieces together, Arlo and Kate cheered to another successful run. As they both placed the fruit slices into their mouth, the sweet citrus flavor hit Kate’s tongue as she swallowed the piece, she instantly knew what they had just eaten and the mistake they had just made. It was a Lustkiss fruit, one of several fruits that grew in the realm of gods. Kate’s expression changed from joy to nervousness and worry. Arlo looked at her, noticing the drastic change in behavior, and became concerned.

“Is Something wrong with fruit? Did you not like it?” Arlo asked her, placing his hand on her shoulder, looking her in the eyes. 

“No, it's not that...It’s just that this fruit…isn’t supposed to exist here.” Kate said nervously as she looked for signs of the fruit's effect on Arlo.

“What are you talking about?” Arlo asked, confused.

“I want to explain, I do, but I don’t think I have much time right now..” Kate said as she covered her face with her hands, trying to understand why the Mysterious Salesman had the Lustkiss fruit and why he brought it here to Portia.

Arlo was still confused but he was growing oddly uncomfortably warm. The world around him was beginning to spin and he couldn’t understand what was happening. Arlo tried to unzip his jacket, trying to cool himself down but the effect of this fruit was causing him to lose focus.

“What was that fruit?” Arlo asked as he grabbed his head, closing his eyes for a moment, trying to make sense of everything.

“My people call it Lustkiss fruit. It is a fruit made by the gods to trick humans into having sex with them. As long as the god and the human both ate a piece from the same fruit, both the human and the god would grow lustful for one another. It also has the same effect for a human to human and god to god but it's always been harder to trick another god into eating one unknowingly” Kate explained.

“A lust fruit?” Arlo asked as he tried to look at her, still confused by what she was going on about. Gods? Were there really such things? He had never seen one. Weren’t they just myths?

“You know, you’re doing pretty good fending off the effect for your first time eating it,” Kate said nervously laughing. “Though I’m not sure you’ll be able to keep that up, sometimes it's best to give in and let the effect take full control.”

“Are you suggesting we have sex right now?” Arlo said nervously looking at her. The fruit was starting to work, just the thought of the idea made him excited.

Kate’s face turned red and she paused before speaking. “The last thing I want to do is have sex my friend right now...but do you plan on walking back into town with that boner? It’s not gonna just go away either, you won’t be able to get rid of it until you give in and feed that growing hunger” she explained to him as his cheeks turned just as red as hers.

Arlo looked at her, seeing every detail of her as if he had taken off a blindfold and awoken to see things differently. Her cheeks were so red against her pale skin. Her hair swept over her ear. Sweat still dripped down her neck from their jog. Arlo was still trying to fight his sudden urges but he was so captivated by her beauty. He could smell her skin, it was scented with something uncommon to Portia. Sweet like vanilla but no, it was cocoa butter.

“How long will this last for if we don’t?” Arlo asked.

“A day or two but the side effects of it are worse. The sexual hunger will just keep growing until it wears off or is properly taken care of. Pleasuring yourself won’t take care of it either, it'll just make it worse.” Kate explained.

“If I agree,” Arlo said nervously, “Will you answer more of my questions afterward?”

Kate hesitated before nervously nodded yes. “Before we do though, please promise me that everything that happens here doesn’t change our friendship and stays here in this moment,” she said as she gripped her skit. The effects of the fruit were starting to take effect for her as well and the thought of having sex with Arlo was getting her excited. 

“Of course,” Arlo replied.

Kate crawled over to Arlo as he tried to unzip his jeans. She made her way on his lap as he placed his hands on her waist, pulling her close to him. Arlo looked up at her nervously. It was his first time, not by choice. He’s just been so busy training for the Flying Pigs and joining the Civil Corps that he didn’t worry too much about it. It would happen eventually. Kate didn’t hesitate to let the effect of the fruit take over her. She was very dominant with Arlo and he could tell she had a lot of experience when it came to having sex. Kate was having trouble keeping up with Arlo. It had been a while since she was this intimate with someone. He could tell she was losing steam and took over as he rolled her over and took her on from behind. He was blessed with vigor from his constant training and she could barely keep up with him. Even in her favorite position, she couldn’t hold on. Even as inexperienced as he was, Arlo was able to wear her down until he couldn’t keep going himself.

They rested up against the tree once more, trying to catch their breaths. Arlo readjusted himself, zipping his jeans back up. He didn’t want anyone coming by seeing them. It wouldn’t look well if someone caught the Captain of the Civil Corps out in public, indecent. They sat there for a while before either of them said a thing. Arlo ran his fingers through Kate’s hair as she rested up against him. It was like running his fingers through strands of silk. Kate enjoyed it too much but Arlo eventually stopped and began to speak at her.

“That...was...really good,” Arlo said as he looked down at Kate.

“Yeah...that...wasn’t your first time...was it?” Kate asked.

Arlo hesitated before answering her, his face beet red. “I’m afraid so...you seemed well practiced yourself,” he commented.

“Yeah...I’ve been around the block a few times…” Kate responded. With one hand she rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted and couldn’t imagine trying to get up.

“Are you okay?” Arlo asked.

“I’m just exhausted, it's been a while and I’m not used to having sex while having my powers dampened,” Kate explained.

“Powers?” Arlo questioned.

“Yeah...I’m a goddess...from another dimension.” Kate explained nervously as she sat up.

Arlo was still trying to comprehend what she had just said, it took him a moment to say something. “A goddess? Like a superhuman deity?” he asked 

“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up,” Kate replied as she turned her back to him, folding her legs together up against her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

“I thought gods were made up…” Arlo told her.

“Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there lurking around the corner,” Kate replied.

“You sounded like you knew a lot about the fruit we just ate, why didn’t you stop us from eating it before things got..heated,” Arlo asked as his face got brighter than the already flush in his cheeks from their sexual escapade. 

“I didn’t fully recognize it before we ate it, it wasn’t until we started consuming it that I realized what it was from the taste. My father grew god fruit in the gardens but I only saw it once in the palace when he was teaching me about them. I didn’t pay attention very well.” Kate as she buried her face in shame after telling him.

“Is your whole family gods?” Arlo asked as he sat up next to her.

“Yes,” Kate replied after unburying her face. “My father was one of the oldest beings in the multiverse. Death, the fourth horseman of the apocalypse. Juliet and I are considered new gods. We aren’t even a quarter-century old yet and we have no purpose because there is no need for gods in a modern world” she explained.

“The Multiverse, meaning there are multiple universes out there? And you talk about your father in the past tense, did something happen to him?” Arlo asked, bombarding her with questions.

“Yes, alternate and parallel,” Kate explained. Her eyes started to glisten as she started to answer this other question. “As for my father, he was murdered recently after Juliet and I came to Portia.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, losing a parent isn’t easy,” Arlo told her. ”Why are you in Portia?” he asked as he placed his hand on her shoulder, pulling her to look at him.

Kate looked up at him, though she really didn’t want to. “My father sent us here, he told us it was a mission to protect the correct timeline during a fixed time in Portia but I’m not sure if I believe that or not,” Kate said sorrowfully. Arlo could tell she wasn’t lying to him.

Arlo let her go, letting her hide her face again if she chose to but instead, she rested her head on her arms. “Why’s that?” he asked her.

“The timing of it all, he sent us here just before he died, like he knew he was going to die. Hiding us from the Rebellion of Death because he knew the fixed time point would keep us safe from them.” Kate explained to Arlo as he turned his back to rest on her and listened.

“Who is the Rebellion of Death?” Arlo inquired.

“They are a group of Reapers who once served my father. Reapers are also known as angels of death. Death Reaps the soul and the Reaper guides the soul to their afterlife. These Reapers didn’t want to work for my father anymore and rose up against him. The leader of the Rebellion tricked Juliet into believing he was in love with her and tried to convince her to kill me. Back then Juliet was very jealous of me and would do anything to get rid of me. But what he told her was his sign of love was nothing more than abuse and rape.” Kate stopped as tears started to form in her eyes. 

Arlo wasn’t sure what to do so they sat there as he let her cry. “I’m sorry, no one should have to go through anything like that,” he told her.

Kate just sat there, still crying heavily. Embarrassed by the fact that she was sharing her dark and personal information. It wasn’t like she didn't want to share with him about who she was, just not this.

“Did the Rebellion kill your Father?” Arlo asked as she calmed down, allowing him to continue to question her.

“No, he was killed by a human called a Hunter. Not like your usual deer season hunters, though I’m not sure if that’s something you have here in your world. Where I’m from, Hunters are humans that were tragedy affected by supernatural events that most likely caused the death of a loved one. They hunt whatever it was that killed their loved one whether it be a werewolf, vampire, or ghost but after that, they really can’t move on so they keep hunting, trying to protect the world from the unknown, however, the one who killed my father was trying to make a deal with him and when my father didn’t give him the answer he wanted, he took my father’s scythe and severed his head.” Kate stopped again as more tears made their way to her eyes.

“I won’t ask anymore,” Arlo said as he turned to look at her. Kate has still turned away from him. He turned back, letting her cry some more. Kate placed her hand at her side as she stared into the river. Arlo noticed this and placed his hand over hers, trying to comfort her. “If you ever need someone to talk to, know I’m always here for you, no matter what it is that bothers you. I may not understand but I’ll try to be here for you.”

Kate took a deep breath in and exhaled out. “Thanks, I appreciate it but I don’t want to burden you with my otherworldly problems. It’s better if you forget about today and not get involved. The less you know the safer you will be.” she explained.

“I can handle myself,” Arlo told her with a smug grin on his face.

“Against the dangers around Portia, yes but have you ever cast out a demon or other supernatural focus from destroying Portia?” Kate asked as she looked over her shoulder.

“No, I can’t say I have, but I’m willing to learn if you’re willing to teach,” Arlo told her as she turned towards him again, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“Even if I taught you all you needed to know, there are just some beings out there too powerful for a human to take out,” Kate told him as she scooted over to sit by his side.

“Then I guess we’re lucky to have two goddesses living in Portia,” Arlo smirked as he moved his hand on her thigh and patted it.

“Juliet and I can’t stay here. As much as I enjoy it here, We’ll be gone as soon as our mission is done,” Kate explained.

“When will that be?” Arlo asked.

“I’m not sure, year or two according to Juliet,” Kate explained.

”What about all the friends you made here?” Arlo inquired, worried that he didn’t mean anything to her.

“Don’t get me wrong when I say this, I really do care about you Arlo...but the friendships I make here are in Portia are just beneficial to the mission,” Kate explained nervously, knowing it wasn’t going to sound good. 

“So you training with me and you occasionally bringing me my favorite dishes, meant nothing to you?” Arlo asked as he got defensive and glared.

“No...it meant so much more to me,” Kate explained as she placed her hand on his shoulder, but still looked away so he didn’t notice her face blush.

“What do you mean?” Arlo asked as he looked at her.

“I really enjoy being your friend, I’ve never met someone who was as adventurous and heroic as I consider myself. I’ve enjoyed our time together and If I wasn’t a goddess, I could see us being more than just friends eventually,” Kate explained to him, still turned away as his cheek blushed.

Arlo blushed from listening to her talk about him. “I’ve really enjoyed being your friend too,” Arlo said as turned to look away. “You mean a lot to me…”

Kate pulled her gaze away from him. Too embarrassed to face him. She was half expecting him to confess his feelings for her. “I’m glad,” she told him.

“Did you go on many adventures before coming to Portia?” Arlo asked, curious about her. This was the first time he told him anything about herself.

“Yeah, I’ve been to many worlds where I have explored the lands and rescued the people from impending doom,” Kate explained. “My father wasn’t a fan of my adventures. He said I messed with the natural balance too much just being there,” she explained, looking up to the sky as she reminisced about her adventures.

“I'm sure the people you saved see it differently,” Arlo told her, trying to reassure her that her efforts didn’t go unrewarded.

“Yeah, I suppose you are right,” Kate smiled as she turned to look at him.

Arlo smiled as he looked back at her, the light from the sun made the water sparkle around her. “You know, I’ve always thought you were special since I first met you,”

“Why was that?” Kate asked, curious about what he meant by that

Arlo hesitated to speak, “You’re not like anyone in town. You’re not afraid to speak your mind and can do some incredible things when you put your mind to it. You amaze me sometimes and now everything makes sense why.” he said nervously. 

“I may be a goddess, but it doesn’t make me any different from anyone else in this town. I put my boots on one foot at a time just like everyone else….not that I have a choice in the matter,” Kate explained.

Arlo chuckled. “Well, If it wasn’t for Juliet and you, we’d probably still be dealing with the poison in the water,” Arlo told her. 

“No, if we weren’t here, fate would probably just strung a human builder here instead of Juliet and I, who’d still have to deal with the same problems and have the same outcome, they just wouldn’t have a magical book that gave them guidance like Juliet and I.” Kate explained

“Magical Book?” Arlo asked, curious about this magical book.

“Ah...I’ve said too much...I shouldn’t be telling you all these things…” Kate told him nervously. She was rambling and getting too comfortable around him again. She stood up, quickly getting herself ready to go. It was already late and she needed to catch up with Juliet.

Arlo quickly stood up as well as he watched her scramble to grab her boots and put them back on. Kate turned to look at him. “Please promise me you won’t reveal Juliet and mine's secret. If word got out, we’d have to leave and the mission would be a complete failure,” she explained.

Arlo hesitated to answer her. “I promise...your secret is safe with me,” he replied.

Kate took his word and as soon as Kate got her last boot on, she turned to leave, heading back towards the workshop without even saying goodbye to Arlo.

“Wait,” Arlo called out to her. Kate turned back to look at him. “I really enjoyed learning more about you today, even though it probably was the hardest thing for you to do. If you don’t mind, I’d like to hang out tomorrow afternoon. We could go check out the Haunted Cave. I haven’t been since it opened.” he asked

Kate hesitated to answer him. “Just as friends?” she asked.

“Of course,” Arlo replied.

“Sure...I’ll meet you at Central Plaza around two...if that's okay?” Kate asked him.

“It’s perfect,” Arlo replied smiling at her.

Kate headed back to the workshop where Juliet was busy working but took notice right away to Kate as she slowly made her way into the yard. Juliet could see that her eyes were puffy from crying and her hair was messed up more than usual. She wasn’t sure where her sister had been, but her guess was with Arlo.

“What happened now?” Juliet asked.

Kate fell to her knees and started to weep. “I fucked up...I failed us,” she said as she sobbed.

Juliet rushed over to her sister in a panic, trying to comfort Kate as best as she could. “Shhh...calm down and take a breather,” she told her.

Kate tried her best to calm down as she took deep breaths while fighting back the tears. It was going to be hard for her to explain to Juliet about the event that just took place but she knew she had to do it.

“When you're ready, tell me what happened,” Juliet told Kate as she looked down at her,

Kate took a deep breath before trying to speak. “This morning...Arlo came by...looking for me to join him in a run so naturally...I accepted after already going on several with him before. We were having a good time and I raced him to the waterfall. He invited me to sit down with him at the tree by the waterfall and offered to share a piece of fruit Nora gave him last night...I...I thought I had seen the fruit before but didn’t realize what it was until we both had eaten it.” Kate explained.

Juliet grew concerned. “What was the fruit?” she asked.

“It...was the Lustkiss fruit…” Kate replied.

“How did Nora get the Lustkiss fruit?” Juliet asked as she panicked.

“Arlo mentioned Nora got it from the Mysterious Salesman,” Kate explained.

Juliet looked down at the ground. “So you gave into the effect of the fruit and had sex with Arlo?” she asked.

“I didn’t want to, but I wasn’t about to let him suffer either. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worst of it” Kate explained.

Juliet looked up at her sister, wide-eyed. “He didn’t have a bad reaction to it did he?” she asked.

“No...he’s fine...probably tried, but not as tired as I am,” Kate told her.

“Then what else happened?’ Juliet asked.

Kate hesitated to answer her sister. She knew she wasn’t going to be happy but hoped she understood the pressure she was under at the moment. “In order for Arlo to agree to have sex...I had to agree to answer his questions afterward. I...ended up relieving who we are and why we were here. I broke one of the three rules that keep us safe from humans ever knowing about us. I’m so sorry Julie,” she told her sister as she started to cry again.

Juliet was upset but looking over the situation, her sister wasn’t left with much of a choice. “Do you trust Arlo?” she asked.

“Arlo trusted me when he told me about his dreams and asked for advice when Nora confessed her feelings to him. I guess it’s only fair for me to trust him with my secret as well.” Kate told Juliet.

“Alright then...let's get inside and get you some tea,” Juliet said as she helped her sister up.

Kate looked at her sister. “You’re not mad at me?” she asked.

Juliet looked at her sister and wiped away some of the tears still dripping from her chin. “No, I’m not mad at you but I am upset at the situation. Whoever this Mysterious Salesman is, better pray I don’t run into him any time soon,” she explained as they walked to the house.

Inside, Juliet prepared a pot of tea for Kate and grabbed a fruit tart out of a bag. “I got you this today from Martha’s bakery because you’ve been so upset lately. I guess I should have bought more,” she said, trying to cheer Kate up.

“Thank you, one tart is enough. You know sweets aren’t good for me even though I love them,” Kate said as she looked up to her sister and smiled.

Juliet placed the tea and fruit tart down in front of her sister and sat down. “I’m sure you don’t want to speak about it anymore but I'm just curious, What was Arlo like to you after having sex with him and finding out about your secret?” she asked Kate.

Kate had a slight smile, her cheeks turned a light shade of rose. She took a sip of the tea before speaking. “Arlo was kind and compassionate. He was patient with me and respectful. He even asked me to hang out with him tomorrow to explore the Haunted Cave attraction on Amber Island before I left to go home,” she explained.

“Did you accept his invitation?” Juliet asked.

“I hesitated to say yes but I did. We’re going to meet in Central Plaza around two.” Kate explained.

“Arlo sounds like a real gentleman. I hope you two have a great time hanging out.” Juliet told Kate as she patted her hand.

Kate sat there sipping her tea. She hadn’t touched her fruit tart. The events of the day made her lose her appetite for the day. Juliet left to finish her work while Kate made her way to bed. She was lost, numb, and tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year Everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and much as I enjoyed creating it. Fun fact, this chapter was originally a challenge I came up with for myself to write smut. It was an alternate timeline idea I had that went through many changes before getting to where it is now.


	17. New Kid in Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an object falls from the sky, crashing in the Collapsed Wasteland, Kate and Juliet must help the Civil Corps plug up a hole that has knocked over an old ruin and caused monsters to escape from within., ruining Kate and Arlo's plans.

Juliet woke Kate up early, just as the sun was slowly rising. Kate wasn’t too happy about this. She wanted to sleep in after yesterday’s event. Even though she went to bed early last night, she was still tired, upset, and wanting to sleep off the effects of the Lustkiss fruit that still lingered in her system.

“Come on now, get out of bed,” Juliet yelled as she uncovered her sister.

“Ugh, why can't I ever sleep in,” Kate asked as she rolled over.

“You’ve been sleeping long enough. It’s not healthy for you to stay in bed all day, plus you’re supposed to hang out with Arlo this afternoon,” Juliet told her.

Kate crawled out of bed, grumbling as she made her way to the dresser to pick out some clothes and then to the bathroom to get herself cleaned up. Heading out of the bathroom, Juliet rushed Kate through breakfast which she barely ate any of until Juliet forced her out of the house. Outside, Juliet quickly checked the workshop, making sure every furnace had wood and every machine worked. Juliet put Kate in charge of refueling the furnaces as she worked on the machines. Katee grumbled again as she carried wood to the furnaces. Juliet was going to work her to the bone before she left to hang out with Arlo.

Coming out of the Commerce Guild after getting a commission, Juliet and Kate noticed something large shooting through the sky. It crashed into the Collapsed Wasteland, making a loud bang throughout the town and shook the ground. Kate and Juliet quickly rushed up to the gate but they were unable to get through the crowd who were being stopped by Sam. She wasn’t allowing anyone through. The crowd of townspeople rumbled with chatter. Everyone is speculating about what happened.

“Calm down everyone! We're on top of this! Arlo and Remington are at the crash site right now. We'll let you know what it is as soon as we find out!” Sam shouted, trying to calm the crowd down. Kate was amazed that the Civil Corps could respond as quickly as they did.

Remington came running up behind Sam from within the Collapsed Wasteland. He whispered something into her ear and pointed to Juliet and Kate. They waved the girls over. Kate and Juliet made their way through the crowd over to them. 

“There seems to have been some kind of relic that fell from the sky but it knocked over a tower and created a giant hole on the ground, causing some monsters to come out as a result. I measured it to be around 4 or 5 meters. We need it patched right away, give us somethin' quick. Sam, don't let anyone in until the hole's plugged, Arlo and I are gonna clear out some more monsters in the meantime.” Remington explained to them.

Juliet and Kate nodded. They turned to leave, quickly making their way back to the workshop to start making the materials for covering the hole. 

“Darn...there goes my play date with Arlo,” Kate sighed as they walked down to the park.

“You can always reschedule. Why don’t you head to Alice’s flower shop and pick up some Wild Flowers, we’ll need them for our guest.” Juliet told her as they stopped in the park.

“Right, do you think he’ll like roses as a welcome gift to Portia,” Kate asked her sister.

“Everyone likes roses,” Juliet replied.

They split off, Kate going to the flower shop and Juliet to the workshop to start making the materials. Kate picked out the best-looking bunch of wildflowers and roses she could see.

“Getting flowers for someone special?” Alice asked Kate, smiling at her presence.

“No, they’re for someone I haven’t met yet,” Kate told Alice as she handed her gols.

Alice was confused. How did Kate know she was going to meet someone today, but Kate didn't give her a chance to ask because she was already making her way back to the workshop.

It was late afternoon by the time they had all the materials ready for repairing the hole on the ruin. Kate had packed away everything as it became ready in her or Juliet’s bag. Juliet brought the last plate over to her.

“You pack the milk?” Juliet asked as she placed the last plate in one of the bags.

“Yeah,” Kate replied as she swung her bag over her shoulder. “I even hand time to make Arlo his favorite dish. I bet he’s starving after spending all day beating up monsters from the ruins.” Kate said cheerfully, proud of herself.

Juliet chuckled at her sister. “Alright, let's get going then,” she said as she slung her bag over her shoulder as well.

Trying to get to the Collapsed Wasteland quickly, they ran through down. “I’m starting to understand why the Civil Corps has horses. I’m getting tired of running around this town,” Kate complained. “Wish I had Ghost right about now,”

“Quit your whining. You can have your horse when you build a stable,” Juliet told her.

“Really?!” Kate said excitedly.

Juliet rolled her eyes as they reached the gate to the Collapsed Wasteland.

“Please tell me you two are here because you have the materials ready,” Sam said as they approached her.

“Yup, all geared up and ready to go,” Kate told her.

“That’s what I like to hear! Alright, head in and hurry up,” Sam told them.

They nodded to Sam and ran past her, entering the Collapsed Wasteland. Running through, trying to avoid the Pinecocks. Kate hated them damn birds. They were always getting in the way. They could see the crash site as they turned the corner. A big fiery blaze. They rushed over to it quickly, passing the Sewage Plant along the way. Arlo and Remington were fending off monsters as they crawled out of the ruins. Kate and Juliet stopped a few feet away when they got there. They were trying to find a way around all the monsters so they could repair the whole. Arlo noticed them standing there.

“Don’t just stand there, fix the hole already,” Arlo shouted to them.

Kate scowled at him. “Why don’t you worry about your job and we’ll worry about ours,” she said as Arlo glared back at her.

Juliet pulled on her sister’s sleeve, directing her around the monsters to the ruin where the whole was. There seemed to be a stop in monsters crawling out. This was the perfect time to close it up. They worked fast as Arlo and Remington finished clearing out the remaining monsters. As they finished the seal, Arlo and Remington tossed the last monster down into a pile of bodies.

“Well, that’s that,” Remington said as he and Arlo dusted themselves off.

“And I was having such a great day too,” Arlo commented as he winked over at Kate. “This thing just had to ruin it.”

Kate blushed, the events of yesterday still fresh in her mind though she wished it wasn’t.

“What is it? I don’t recall reading about anything like this in the books.” Remington pondered. 

“Well, why don’t we pop it open and give it a look,” Arlo said, pounding his fist in his hand and cracking his neck.

Before Kate or Juliet could tell them it was a space station, the door to it opened and a metal being fell from within out onto the ground. It was badly damaged, missing a leg and the backside of its head. It slowly tried to sit up. “Holy Moly,” it said.

“It’s a robot!” Remington said surprisingly as they watched it try to move around.

“How rude, the name is ack...Klack! Ack!” He tried to say his name but the damage done to him was so severe he couldn’t process his name.

“Ack? “ Juliet questioned.

“Who are you exactly Ackbot and what is this?” Arlo asked, looking down at the robot.

“I'm the chef of my space station... a piece of which is right here…” Ack began to explain but paused as he realized he was on the ground.

“Space station?” Arlo questioned, looking over to Kate and Juliet hoping they would be able to chime in.

“Jeepers creepers! I'm on the ground! How the heck did I get here?!” Ack said in a panic.

“You fell from the sky,” Kate explained to him.

“You don’t say…” Ack said as he tried to process everything. He started to panic again. “Ack!”

“Woah there, don’t move okay?” Remington said, trying to calm the robot down. 

“I’m not panicking, I’m not panicking,” Ack said, trying to calm himself down.

“We gotta show this to the mayor,” Remington said, partially laughing while trying to be serious at the same time. 

“Yeah, we should,” Arlo said in agreement. “I’ll grab him. Come along Kate, Juliet!” He nodded his head towards the gate, directing to get going. He swung the robot onto his back, carrying it out of the Collapsed Wasteland. Following behind Kate and Juliet where he could keep an eye on them.

Everyone made their way to the Civil Corps. Remington told Sam to go get the Mayor as they reached the gate back into town as well as some other instructions that involved the crash site. She quickly ran off to find him. The townspeople gathered around trying to sneak a peek, whispering to each other as they noticed the robot on Arlo’s back. Kate wasn’t a fan of a town of gossip but she knew it couldn’t be helped. Such a small town like this that’s so close-knit, it was bound to happen. Made her worry if her secret ever got out, how they would react.

By the time they all made it to the Civil Corps, The Mayor, Minister Lee, and Merlin were all waiting for them to show up. Kate felt like she was meeting with the Council to be scolded for doing something they didn’t approve of. Arlo took notice of her anxiety as she slowed down, trailing behind her sister. He placed his hand on her shoulder as he approached her, letting her know it was okay with a quick nod. She followed him into the Civil Corps.

Inside, Ack was placed into the Jail Cell for safety reasons. Kate didn’t approve of this but it wasn’t her say. Here she was just a builder. 

“You can’t arrest me! I know my right!” Ack demanded, sitting on the floor of the jail cell. 

“Now, now, calm down Mr. Ack, we’re just trying to sort out this...situation. We didn’t expect you to drop in on us after all. The Mayor chuckled at his pun. “Ahem, anyway, I take it you were on the Altair One space station for the last three hundred years, am I correct?”

“I’m not saying a word until I see my lawyer!” Ack said stubbornly. Kate was starting to like this robot guy more and more. Juliet and Kate stood to the side watching everything. Arlo stood over to the other side, keeping quiet as well.

“Fascinating!” Merlin said in excitement, glancing over the robot like a new science experiment.

“Why are we even talking to this thing?” Minter Lee said unpleasantly. He did not like the fact there was a robot in town. 

“Mr. Ack, the sooner you show us you’re not a threat, the better off it is for us all.” The Mayor tried to explain it to him.

“Well call me a pancake, but I’m a chef!” Ack said shocked. Kate tried not to laugh but she found him most humorous. “How am I a threat? And to answer your question, I was in a maintenance mode for the last 330 years, 2 months, and 17 days. When I woke up, I was here.” Ack explained.

“So you’re not an assassin sent from Duvos?” The Mayor asked.

“Look monsieur, I don’t know what a Duvos is and if I did, why would I tell you?” Ark told him with sass. This made Kate chuckle. Arlo noticed her and reached out, pinching her on the arm to get her to cut it out. His pinch hurt but she tried not to let out a yelp, glaring at him.

“You have a point,” the Mayor replied.

“What should we do with him?” Arlo asked the Mayor.

“Get rid of it right now!” Minister Lee demanded. “We don’t know what it’ll do! Remember the dancing robot of Ethea?”

“I say he stays at the Research Center. We’ll take responsibility for him. He’s a treasure trove to explore,” Merlin said, eyeing him up like a child in a candy store.

“How dare you! You’ll be putting everyone’s lives in danger.” Minister Lee told Merlin angrily. 

“He’s a living AI! There aren’t too many like him around in the Free Cities!” Merlin explained.

“You know I can hear you right? Don’t you know what I want?” Ack interrupted. 

“Go on…” The Mayor said, encouraging the robot to speak.

“I’d say free me, but I know you’re not going to do that. So I’ve decided, I want a glass of milk.” Ack told the Mayor.

The Mayor looked confused. “Okay...that can be arranged.”

“And I want to know what happened to my crewmates,” Ark told him, adding to his demands.

“Arlo?” The Mayor said, turning his direction to Arlo.

“We checked the crashed station, your crewmates didn’t make it. They died hundreds of years ago...Sorry.” Arlo explained to Ark with a heavy tone.

“Oh…” Ack said in a somber tone as his head sunk. Heartbroken to hear his crewmates were no longer with him.

“Mr. Ack, I'm sorry for your loss. For now, I need you to cooperate and stay here until we figure out what can do with you. Can you do that?” The Mayor asked.

“Yeah... sure... I'm not going anywhere…” Ack replied, depressed.

“Also Young Builders, since you both are here, can you try to make Mr. Ack comfortable and do something about his head and leg?” The Mayor asked the girls as he turned his attention to them.

“Sure,” Juliet replied.

The Mayor, Minister Lee, and Merlin all cleared out of the Civil Corps with Minister Lee and Merlin bickering about what to do with Ack as they left. Leaving Arlo, Kate, and Juliet standing there, looking at Ack who sat still, head down. Arlo turned around to look at Kate.

“I’m sorry for pinching you hard. I didn’t mean to be so rough. I just wanted you to take this a little more seriously,” Arlo said, trying to start up a conversation with her.

“It’s fine, I’m sorry for not keeping myself under control. I couldn’t help myself,” Kate giggled. “He’s a funny little robot.”

Arlo smiled at her, it was cute when she laughed. “I’m sorry I had to miss out on our playdate today,” he told her.

Kate turned to look at him and smiled. “It’s fine, we can try again later,” she told him.  
“Right,” Arlo replied, smiling back at her. “Are you free tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yeah...I should be. How about we meet at Central Plaza tomorrow morning around ten? We can go ruin diving in the Sewage Plant together,” Kate asked him.

“That sounds great,” Arlo said, pleased. It made him want to smile but he tried his hardest to fight it to appear more professional in front of the AI.

Kate pulled her gaze off of Arlo for a moment, realizing she still had the noodles in her bag she made for him. She reached in her bag to grab it. “Oh, I made you your favorite dish. I figured you probably haven’t eaten since this morning,” she said, holding out the container of Seafood Noodles to him.

“Oh, thank you,” Arlo said, wide-eyed as his stomach growled at the smell of it. “I appreciated it,” he said as he grabbed the container from her hands. 

“I’m glad,” Kate said with a big smile. “Well, I better get to helping Mr. Ack,” she told him as she turned to find Juliet.

Arlo reached out grabbing her arm, pulling her back to look at him. “Can you tell me, Is he safe?” he asked her.

“The AI? Yeah, he won’t cause any trouble in town,” Kate said discreetly.

Arlo looked over at Ack, still sulking. “That’s good. He does look to be in pretty bad shape,” he commented.

“He just woke up to find himself over three hundred years into the future after war swept out the life he used to know. Between that and finding out all his friends are dead, I would be depressed too. I can only imagine how it feels right now,” Kate said as she looked down at Ack.

Arlo placed his hand on her shoulder. He couldn’t imagine what was going through her mind right now. He believed it had to be something selfless and kind-hearted. He was just glad she was there right now and he had a moment in the day to see her.

Kate walked away from Arlo to find her sister who was talking to Remington, keeping him distracted as Kate talked to Arlo. Shae made her way over to them and placed her hand on Juliet's shoulder. “You ready? I think Ack could use some cheering up,” she said to her

“Right, let’s get on it then. I’ll talk to later Remy,” Juliet said, waving goodbye to Remington as he smiled and waved back. Though she wasn’t going far.

Walking back to the jail cell, Kate noticed Arlo had finally walked away. Now sitting down, enjoying the meal she had prepared for him. He sat, listening as they approached the robot. The two girls stared down at Ack as he started to mumbled to himself “Life is hard, then you die...hallelujah, hallelujah.” He wasn’t wrong.

“Hey Mr. Ack, how about we fix that leg and head wound you got there?” Kate asked him as she smiled cheerfully.

“What’s the point...oh my dear Lara, hallelujah…” Ack mumbled.

Kate pulled out a bottle of milk from her bag and held it out to the Ack. “How about a bottle of milk to cheer you up?” Kate said shaking it in front of him like a cat toy.

“OH! The Nectar of life!” Ack said as his head perked up and he reached for it. He took the milk from her hands and opened it right away, chugging it down as fast as he could. “Jimmy Cricket! This is some good milk,” he told her.

Kate giggled at him “I didn’t know AIs could drink or eat, but I guess you learn new things every day.”

“You seem to be in better spirits now,” Juliet commented as she smiled at him.

“I am, thank you, both of you,” Ack replied, trying to smile.

“Let’s see if we can find something to replace that missing leg of yours,” Kate said.

Scanning the room around for something at least peg leg like, Kate noticed a broom over by the training dummy she made Arlo. She walked over to it and picked it up, bringing it back to Ack. Ack twisted it into place and stood up. Trying to put weight on it, he fell over. It was too short and the bristles just spread apart. Kate was upset that it didn't work. Juliet walked up with a mop she found. Ack tried that on as well but the mop head caused him to slip and fall over once more. Kate tried not to laugh but it was kinda funny. Kate looked up at the storage about the jail cell and noticed something sticking out. She headed up to find a plunger. She grabbed it and brought it back.

“I think this is what we are looking for,” Kate said as she handed the plunger to Ack. 

Ack twisted the plunger into place and stood up. Placing all his weight onto it, he started walking across the floor. “Hot diggity!” he shouted in joy.

Juliet and Kate looked at each other and smiled. This was a victory. Both Arlo and Remington smiled as they watched them. 

Now all he needed was something to cover those loose wires. Kate looked around once more, finding a bucket in the back of the room. She ran over to it, passing Remington, and picked it up to bring back to Ack. Usually, around this time, Arlo would start his workout, but he was enjoying watching the two girls try to fix Ack, but mostly Kate. She was so kind and gentle with him. Arlo was enjoying seeing this side of her. 

Placing the bucket on his head, Ack started to short circuit. There must have been a small remnant of water in the bucket, big enough to drip into his wound. Kate took the broom and pushed the bucket off his head. It took Ack a moment for him to regain control.

“I’m sorry Ack, I should have checked the bucket for water first,” Kate said, shaking her head in shame.

“It’s okay,” Ack told her.

Juliet came running down from the storage with a flower pot. She tossed it to Kate who caught it and handed it to Ack. He placed it on his head. This time the pot was too big and he couldn’t see at all. Kate was determined to find something that would work. She scanned the room once more. 

Over in the corner behind Remington, under the stairs, Kate noticed something silver. She ran over and picked it up. “Yes, I think this will do perfectly” she muttered to herself. She ran it back over to Ack. It was a cooking pot. Kate handed it to Ack and he placed it on his head, placing the handle behind him. It sat perfectly on his head. It almost fit in with his attire.

“Well shoot a monkey to the moon, this is great,” Ack said excitedly. 

“Let’s not send any monkeys to the moon but I’m glad you like it,” Kate said as she giggled.

“Thank you both for all the help. Now I stay and await my fate...hallelujah, hallelujah,” Ack said to them both.

Kate reached into her bag once more, grabbing the roses that were sticking out. She held them out to Ack. “Welcome to Portia Ack, here’s hoping the town is just as welcoming of you as we are,”

Ack slowly reached out for the roses. He didn’t know what to say. They say AIs don’t have emotions but Kate could see if he could, he’d be crying right now. “Thank you,” he told her as he took the flower and held them close. “Could you do me a favor?” He started to ask.” I heard from one of the people here that they buried my crewmates in the city’s cemetery. Can you place these flowers on their grave?” he said, handing her back the roses. 

Kate pushed the roses back. “You keep those, Juliet and I have some wildflower we can put on your crewmates grave,” 

Ack smiled. “I appreciate it,”

Arlo was now watching from the doorframe of his bedroom. He was supposed to be going to bed but he was mesmerized by how kind the two girls were to Ack and continued to watch. Kate turned around to look at him, looking as if she wanted to speak to him once more before heading home.

“Jules, go on ahead of me, I would like to speak to Arlo for a moment, alone,” Kate told her sister

Juliet just nodded and headed out. She couldn’t imagine why her sister needed to talk to Arlo again but she let them be. She could only hope that her sister would be coming home in tears again.

Kate walked over to Arlo. Remington had already made his way to bed so it was just them, besides Ack. Arlo watched her walk over to him. A sudden urge came over him. He wanted to run his fingers through her hair, taste her lips, and feel her body up against his. He fought it off. There clearly must be some Lustkiss fruit still in his system. “You did a great job with Ack,” he told her.

“Thanks, I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to get through to him,” Kate told him. 

“Nah, you were great. You were very gentle and kind to him. I can tell you’ll make a great mother one day.” Arlo commented, not realizing what he was saying to her. Kate turned away from him so he couldn’t see her face. He realized he said something to upset her so he placed his hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong?” he asked

Kate took a deep breath and exhaled. “With my father gone, I’ll probably never be able to have children,” she explained

“Why’s that?” Arlo asked, curious as to why she would think that.

Kate turned to look at Arlo, tears had started rolling down her cheeks. She placed her hand on her stomach. “My father placed a seal on Juliet and me one night in our sleep, preventing us from ever getting pregnant out of wedlock,” she explained.

“I guess I can understand where he was coming from...but then again, he should have left that to be your choice,” Arlo told her, a bit upset.

“At first, I didn’t care. It was only four years ago but I was still naive and inexperienced. I hadn’t lived there long and all I wanted to do was to leave the palace and go on adventures.” Kate explained.

“You didn’t grow in the palace?” Arlo asked.

“No, Juliet grew up there but we were separated at birth so I was raised as a human, unaware of who I really was,” Kate replied.

Arlo wasn’t sure what to tell her but he couldn’t handle seeing those tears pool up in the corner of her eyes. They were too beautiful to let tear up. He wiped the corners of her eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. “Why don’t you head home and get some rest. We can talk more about this or whatever you want tomorrow,” he told her as her eyes sparkled while she looked up at him. She nodded and headed towards the door, looked back at him to wave goodbye.

Arlo watched as she left. As soon as she was gone, he turned to the door frame and pressed his head against it. “Fuck,” he muttered to himself. He was starting to feel something for her. He wasn’t sure if it was love or just sympathy but his heart sunk deep as she left. He wanted to hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright but he couldn’t. Ack quietly sat and watched Arlo as he banged his fist against the frame.

Kate made her way down into the town running into Juliet who was coming out of the Mayor’s house. “How did it go with the Mayor?” she asked Juliet as she made her way over.

“Well, he was pleased to hear we fixed Ack up but unfortunately they haven’t decided on what to do with him yet. The Church and the Research Center can’t agree on anything.” Juliet explained as they started walking towards the cemetery.

Kate rolled her eyes. “I wish those two would learn to get along already. What about the Mayor, what's his thoughts?” she asked.

“He was going to stick to the words of his deceased wife that everyone deserves a chance,” Juliet told her as they reached the end of the sidewalk and crossed over onto the dirt path by the church ruins. 

“Wise women,” Kate mumbled.

Juliet and Kate entered the cemetery. This was an unusual place for them to be. They always collected souls at the moment of death, never sticking around for the events after. They weren’t the only ones in that grave. Reapers stood around watching over the Princesses they swore to protect. They found the grave easily for it was the only fresh grave with turned soil. Juliet placed the wildflowers down on the stone. Together they knelt onto the ground and began to pray. They knew these souls had already passed long ago onto the afterlife but it wasn’t for them. It was for Ack, blessing him with good fortune in a strange new world. A goddess's blessing.


	18. Secret Agreement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first time Arlo and Kate are hanging outside of training since the Lustkiss fruit incident and things seem to be a bit awkward between the two as they set off into the sewer plant to go ruin diving but what happens the sewer stays in the sewer right?

Juliet woke Kate up early again the next day. You would think she enjoyed this but she only did this so she could get her up out of bed on time so they would beat Higgins to the commission board for the best commission. Plus, she knew her sister would be gone most of the day with Arlo and wanted to make the most of the time she did have with her.

The mailbox was full of letters this morning with one particular letter from Albert asking the girls to build a crane for the Portia Museum the Mayor had provided the money for. Juliet said she would deal with the paperwork and talk to Petra about getting a blueprint while Kate was gone.

After checking to see if she had everything for today, Kate caught up to Juliet who was waiting outside the gate. Kate was excited and nervous. This was the first time she and Arlo were hanging out outside of training and festivals. This was also the first time they’ve hung out since the Lustkiss fruit incident.

Kate left Juliet after they picked out a commission, hoping to show up early before Arlo arrived so she could calm herself down unfortunately she wasn’t the only one who had that idea. As she reached Central Plaza, she could see Arlo standing by the Wishing Tree. His red hair shined bright from the reflection of the morning sun making him stand out. He seemed to be just as nervous as she was. Arlo’s face lit up when he noticed her walking towards him. 

“Morning,” Arlo said, greeting her with a smile. 

“Good morning, Arlo. Are you ready to go ruin diving in the Sewage plant?” Kate asked him with a playful smile.

“Always. I can’t wait to see what else you have planned for the rest of the day as well,” Arlo told her. She could hear the excitement in his voice.

Kate was confused. She thought just going ruin diving would be enough. Was he expecting them to do more? She might have to wing it later and figure out something to do after the ruins. They started walking, making their way to the Collapsed Wasteland Gate, making small chat with each other.

“Did you pack enough ointment?” Arlo asked.

“I have enough, yes. Not that I’m going to need it. I usually heal myself before I leave the ruins.” Kate explained to him.

“Oh, right,” Arlo replied. He felt dumb for asking.

“Are you okay?” Kate asked him. “You don’t seem to be acting like your normal self.”

“I’m fine,” Arlo replied, smiling at her. He looked away, trying to avoid eye contact.

As they reached the Sewage Plant, Arlo tried to take charge, entering before her, trying to lead her to the best rooms for loot but she took it the wrong way and thought he was trying to dominate the situation. He waited for her to catch up to him but as she approached him, passed him instead of stopping next to him.

“Wait up,” Arlo called to her.

Kate kept going, ignoring him as he made his way through the ruin to get to her. He was able to catch up to her when she stopped to round the corner of a tunnel. There was a group of ghoulish creatures roaming. 

“You need to be careful here…” Arlo started to tell her but she interrupted him.

“Shhh…” Kate hushed him. She was watching the ghouls, looking for patterns and openings. “Look,” He looked over her shoulder to find a group of Pilierimps hopping around. Arlo’s instinct was to push her to the side and take them on solo but she already seemed upset with him for something. He didn’t want to risk it. “You take the two on the left and I’ll take out the two on the right, okay?” Arlo nodded and took a step out into the tunnel. Kate followed him as she drew her sword as they ran in together, side by side.

Kate was pretty amazed to see the imps were actually pretty squishy but their hopping around was quite annoying when trying to land a hit. At one point one of the imps moved behind Arlo and was about to strike him. Kate moved quickly and rammed her sword through it. Arlo took notice but he had to move fast because she had left herself open to the other imp to attack her. He pushed her out of the way, blocking it’s attack and returning a punch to the imp, knocking it back. Arlo made a swift lunge forward, kicking it in the head and knocking it out. 

Kate looked over at Arlo as he turned around to her. She blushed in embarrassment for letting her guard down. “Thanks,”

Arlo walked over to her and reached for her shoulder. “I say we are even now,” 

Kate just stared at him. She couldn’t move or speak. Arlo couldn’t find a reason to move either. He was entrapped by her and those same feelings from last night were coming back. He wanted to hold her and without realizing it, his hand moved from her shoulder, down her back, pulling her closer to him.

“Arlo...what are you…” Kate asked him but he stopped her, placing his finger over her lips. 

Kate felt so warm in his grasp and didn’t want him to let go but deep down she knew this couldn’t be. He was all about the Civil Corps and she was a goddess from another world. This was all too complicated.

Arlo moved in close to her, slowly closing his eyes as he locked lips with her. Kate clutched his jacket as they passionately kissed but then pulled away from him, turning her head.

“What’s wrong,” Arlo asked her.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Kate replied.

“Why not?” Arlo asked as he reached for Kate’s cheek, trying to get her to look at him again.

Kate reached for his hand, embracing his touch. “We’re from two completely different worlds, you barely know me. We’ll just get in each other's way,” She told him as her mind raced with thoughts and her emotions conflicted with one another.

“If this is wrong, then I don’t want to be right,” Arlo whispered in her as he bent down to kiss her neck.

Kate moaned softly. “Arlo,” She wanted to push him away, to stop him from going any further but she couldn’t. He pushed her up against the tunnel wall and moved his hands down to her side, clutching her tightly. They spent the next half hour in the sewer having sex. It probably wasn’t the cleanest place to do it but it was out of sight from unwelcome eyes. As Arlo came in Kate, she yelled very loudly as she orgasmed and then went limp, weakly falling into his arms. Kate rested her head against Arlo’s chest, heavily breathing as he slid down the wall of the tunnel. Arlo placed his hand on her head and started to pet her softly, closing his eyes as they both rested. Kate was extremely exhausted. Why was having sex with him so good yet so exhausting? He had become her weakness. 

“Arlo,” Kate started to say but she wasn’t quite sure she was going to say.

Arlo opened one eye to look down at her. “What’s up?” he asked.

“What..are we..?” Kate asked.

“I'm not sure..” Arlo replied. He couldn’t answer that question for himself. He did care for her but he couldn’t justify his feelings for her quiet.

“Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy having sex with you, but I can’t get into a relationship with you,” Kate told him.

Arlo paused for a moment before answering her. “Then...let’s not have a relationship…but keep doing this,” he suggested.

“What do you mean?” Kate asked as she looked him in the eyes.

“Let’s just keep being friends...and have casual sex…” Arlo explained. “No commitments...just two friends hanging out, having sex…maybe a little cuddling after sex ...”

“So your saying..you just want either of us to show up for sex whenever we like?” Kate asked

“Well there should at least be a few hours notice...but yes,” Arlo replied.

Kate was hesitant to answer him. This was everything she was trying to avoid and yet here she was again. All she did know was she wanted to kiss him again. She leaned her neck up to him. Arlo didn’t hesitate and locked lips with her. Chills ran down her spine. Even if this was wrong, she didn’t want to stop it.

They eventually had to convince each other it was time to get going though neither wanted to leave for that very moment nothing existed except them. There was no Portia. There was no danger. It was just them, sexually expressing their feelings. Whether it was healthy or not wasn’t something they wanted to think about.

Things were oddly quiet as they continued through the ruin with only the subtle chatter of where to go next or how to clear out the next room. By the time they made it out of the ruin, it was mid-afternoon. Kate’s stomach growled as she emerged into the sunlight out of the ruin. If she wasn’t exhausted enough after sex, she defiantly was now. Her body was craving fuel to replenish her low energy. As Arlo made his way out of the ruin he noticed Kate just standing on the path back to town, staring off into the distance. 

Arlo made his way over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I was just thinking…” Kate told him.

“What about?” Arlo asked.

Kate turned around to look at him with a beaming smile on her face. “About how I’m starving right now. Let’s head over to the Round Table and get something to eat, my treat!” She lied. Kate didn’t want to tell him what she was thinking. She was worried that she agreed to something that would come back to bite her in the ass later on.

“That sounds like a good plan. I’m famished too,” Arlo told her with a big smile on his face.

Together they made their way back into town, heading towards the Round Table. It was a long walk back with more silence. She didn’t know what to say and neither did Arlo. Things were supposed to be normal between them but it was far from that now. Had they gone too far? There was no going back now.

It was quiet in the Round Table. There was no one there except for Sonia and Django who were cleaning up between the lunch and dinner rush. There was only one table in the Round Table that was away from all the other tables besides the big roundtable in the middle of the room. It was secluded and safe away from wandering ears. Arlo and Kate sat there across from each other. 

“So what kind of foods do you like besides Spicy and Pasta?” Kate asked as she glanced at the menu.

“Hmm...I like sour things like pickled vegetables, oh and Django makes really good rice dishes.” Arlo told her as he too looked through the menu. “Just don’t order me anything sweet. I’ve never liked it since I was little.”

“Good to know,” Kate replied with a smile. “What are you in the mood for today?”

Arlo glanced through the menu, trying to decide what to get. He didn’t want to order anything too expensive but Kate insisted he orders whatever he wanted as Sonia took their order. As they enjoyed the meal, Kate broke the silence between them with as much small talk she could come up with.

“How’s Ack doing?” Kate asked

“Oh..umm...He’s good. Still down but he asked about you this morning,” Arlo explained.

“Oh? What about?” Kate inquired.

“Nothing important. He just wanted to know if you were going to be stopping by again today,” Arlo told her, making her smile. Arlo took notice, watching her eyes sparkled and he couldn’t help but blush, Kate noticed his rosy cheeks and blushed too. She turned away. 

After dinner, they headed out and down Main Street to Central Plaza where they sat at one of the benches under the Wishing Tree where they talked a little bit more before ending their outing. Arlo sat slouched over with one arm on his knee. Kate sat elegantly, cross-legged as a Lady should. Something her father had drilled in her head over the years.

“Arlo, why is it called the Wishing Tree? What’s the story behind it?” Kate asked.

Arlo shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess someone must have made a wish under the tree one day and it came true,” he replied.

It wasn’t the answer Kate was looking for but she didn’t expect him to know. Her curiosity was getting the best of her. Arlo was the first person who she could ask about this world without having to play cross five with and mocked for not having patience or enough discipline. “I suppose that makes sense,” she told him.

“Sorry...I’m sure you were looking for a more magical answer,” Arlo replied

“It’s fine. I can’t expect you to know everything. Plus I shouldn’t be bothering you with questions so simple and silly,” Kate told him

Arlo looked up at her and placed his hand on her arm, “Your questions aren’t silly. You’ve answered plenty of my questions. I’d be more than happy to answer your questions as best as I can. It’s the least I can do for you,” he told her.

Kate smiled. “You don’t owe me anything,” she told him

Arlo wanted to touch her face but he thought it would be too much. It was public there anyway. Too many eyes watching them as they sat and talked. He didn’t need the whole town talking about his love life. “Still, you’re a good friend and I’ll do anything for you, even if it's answering a few questions,” he replied.

Kate blushed, cheeks rose-colored against her pale white skin. She looked beautiful. Arlo looked away as his cheeks turned red as well. “I should be going, it’s getting late,” he said as he stood up.

Kate watched him stand there for a moment before saying anything. “Right, I suppose Juliet is looking for me,” she commented.

Arlo turned around to look at her. “I enjoyed hanging out today. I look forward to next time,” he said, smiling at her.

Kate smiled back. “Me too,” 

“I’ll catch you later then,” Arlo said, casually saluting her goodbye.

“Later,” Kate replied. Still sitting on the bench.

Arlo turned around and made his way back to the Civil Corps as she watched him walk away. As soon as he was out of sight, she stood up and made her way back home. What the fuck did she do? She can’t tell Juliet about this thing between her and Arlo. She couldn’t even come up with a name for it without it sounding wrong. Friends with Benefits. Disgusting. But it’s not like this was the first time. She’s been through a lot of relationships that had all the same ending. When they start wanting more from her, she ends the relationship and goes home. Why does this time feel so different though?

Kate was so lost in thought, she didn’t realize she had made it to the gate of the workshop. Juliet was tightening the bolts to the water storage she was preparing for the Tree Farm. She placed the wrench down onto the workbench as Kate walked over to the stone table.

“Hey, how was your day with Arlo?” Juliet asked.

“Hmm…” was all she could say as she sat down at the table, sloping down onto the stool and resting her head on the table dreamingly as she placed her bag on the ground.

“Something happened?”Juliet asked as she stared at her sister.

“When doesn’t something happen?” Kate asked rhetorically.

“What happened this time?” Juliet asked as she sat down across from her sister and placed her hand on her arm.

“I don’t want to talk about it. The last thing I want is you judging me for my life choices,” Kate told her sister.

Juliet looked at her sister with sorrow. “I have no right to judge you. Whatever it is, I’m here to listen when you are ready.”

Kate grabbed her sister’s hand and held it tightly before speaking. When she was ready, she sat up. “We were in the Sewage Plant ruin diving, Arlo and I. We hadn’t been in there long, maybe thirty minutes. We had just fought off some imps. We both covered each other’s back from being attacked. I was thanking him.” Kate's cheek turned red. “There was a moment of silence as we both just stared into each other’s eyes. Before I knew it, we both had our hands on each other. My mind was telling me to stop but my heart and soul were fighting back. I felt so warm and safe in his arms. I didn’t want to leave,” she explained.

“Did you feel different or the same as when you two ate the Lustkiss fruit?” Juliet asked.

“Oddly enough, different. With the Lustkiss fruit, it was just pure lust, but today was like a fire burning in my chest.” Kate replied.

“Do you love him?” Juliet asked

“I care for him but I can’t say I do or don’t love him. It’s so middle ground for me right now.” Kate told her.

“Are you regretting having sex with him again?” Juliet asked.

“Yes...and no. I regret what I agreed to more.” Kate told her.

A concerned look came across Juliet’s face. “What did you agree to?” she asked.

Kate looked down at her hands in embarrassment. “Afterwards, I reminded him I couldn’t commit to anything so he purposed we continue to be friends but we also continue to have sex too...to be fair I didn’t say yes or no...I just made out with him...more,”

“I see,” Juliet replied as she pulled her hand away from her sister. 

“I know, I should have told him no but I couldn’t control myself, he makes me weak” Kate explained.

“I don’t think he makes you weak. I think he makes you happy. Something you haven’t had in a long time. Our world has been chaotic lately and you’ve had no escape from it. Arlo was your first obstacle here in town and he continues to be an obstacle for you. Until you two figure out what's going on between each other, that's all you two will be obstacles to one another,” Juliet told her.

Kate laid her head back down onto the table. She knew her sister was right but she didn’t want to give her the gratification. Juliet stood up. She knew there wasn’t anything more she could say. She patted her sister on the head and headed back to work. Kate just spent the rest of the evening sitting there. Lost.

Arlo was finishing his evening workout. Toby had left an hour ago to head home but Arlo continued onward, punching out all the emotions he had pent up inside. Ack watching from afar within the jail cell. He wondered what had Arlo so worked up. As Arlo picked up his towel and wiped away the sweat, he made his way to his bedroom. As soon as he was in ear rang, Ack spoke to him.

“You seem upset?” Are you okay?” Ack asked

Arlo looked over at Ack, surprised to hear him. He has been so quiet all evening, he almost forgot he was there. “I’m fine Ack, thanks for asking,”

“Are you sure? You seemed very upset after spending the day with Ms. Kate,” Ack commented.

Arlo was surprised he picked up on that. It didn’t seem like he was going to get past him without telling him the truth. He walked over to one of the chairs next to the jail and sat down, leaning over as he tried to think of what to say. “It’s complicated,” was all he could say.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Ack laughed jokingly.

“I’m worried we’ve taken things too far. I’m worried I might lose her as a friend if we continue down the road we are going but I also feel like there is no going back for us,” Arlo explained. 

“You seem to have a very special relationship with her. When you were talking to her last night, you two were very close and shared a very strong connection,” Ack told him. “You must love her,”

Arlo was surprised to learn Ack had been watching them the whole time but what he said brought to light what he felt. “I can’t say I love her but I can’t say I don’t either. I do care for her. She’s strong, kind-hearted, and beautiful. Any guy would be lucky to have her but she doesn’t want a relationship and doesn’t have plans on staying in Portia.” Arlo explained.

“Strange, her body language tells me differently,” Ack told him.

“You pay attention to a lot of things don’t you,” Arlo chuckled. “Even if she wanted a relationship, there’s a lot more to it than just that. As I said, it’s complicated.”

“Is it because she’s not human?” Ack asked.

Arlo was shocked. How did he know she wasn’t human. Was he talking to anyone while he was gone today? Did he tell anyone else that she wasn’t human? Arlo knew he wasn’t going to play this one-off either. “How do you know?” he asked.

“My data system recognizes most life forms on the planet but when I try to read Ms. Kate and Ms. Juliet, all my data can tell me is they are humanoid-like beings,” Ack explained. 

“So you don’t know what they are…” Arlo was relieved to hear this, but he was still worried Ack would relieve their secret.

“Do you know what they are?” Ack asked.

“I do...but unfortunately I’m not about to tell you. Sorry, but I made a promise to keep their identity safe so please, don’t go telling anyone that they’re not human or I’ll disable you...somehow” Arlo threatned. He was serious. He didn’t want to take any chances. He wasn’t willing to risk losing Kate.

“Noted,” Ack replied.

Arlo got up and headed to his room. It was already later then he wanted to be up. He needed to go to bed so he could get up for tomorrow’s morning run. He paused at the door and said goodnight Ack, thanking him for listening.


	19. Back To Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything seems to be back to business as more work comes from the townspeople leaving Kate and Juliet very busy.

The next day, Kate was up bright and early, rushing herself outside before Juliet could wake up. She wanted to make up for all the lost time her sister had to work by herself on the Tree Farm Project. She grabbed the clipboard off the workbench of the tasks, going over what still needed to be completed. After that, she checked to see if Juliet had anything prepared for the next step. It seemed like she was preparing for the water wheel. This was the biggest part of the water system. No wonder she was putting it off. It was pretty simple to make but it was massive in size. That didn’t stop Kate or scare her from getting it built. 

Juliet made her way outside to finish her sister was busy working. It brought a smile to her face. “I thought I’d find you out here,” she said to Kate as she made her way over.

“Morning,” Kate said, greeting her sister as she stopped a moment from building the frame of the wheel.

“Looks like a busy day today?” Juliet said as she made her way over to Kate. She grabbed the frame and held it still for her as Kate continued to tighten it up.

“Yeah, it looks like more work is in the forecast for today. McDonald needs his horse stable repaired. Django needs the power box for the game room fixed and Mei sent us a letter this morning looking for our help” Kate explained to Juliet and she stood up after tightening the last bolt. 

“At least we’re both here today,” Juliet said jokingly as she stood up as well.

“Yeah...I’m sorry about yesterday. I’m sure you could have used my help last night.” Kate apologized.

Juliet placed her hand on Kate’s shoulder. “Don’t apologize, I had everything under control,” she told her.

“Well, I’m not going to get this wheel done all this morning, there are still parts that need to be made in the grinder. What should we do first? McDonald’s’ stable?” Kate asked.

Juliet pulled her away. “Yeah, Let’s go from west to east. You get the materials for the stable and I’ll get the parts for the power box and data discs for the research center for Mei’s printing press.” Juliet replied.

Kate made her way over to the storage containers to grab hardwood planks and iron bars. “Alright, if you’re short on data discs, I have a bunch in my bag,” Kate told her sister, pointing to her bag over by the workbench.

As the girls made their way to McDonald’s’ farm, Paulie and the Civil Corps came rushing by on their morning jog. Arlo was in the lead behind Paulie as usual. As they passed by both Kate and Arlo exchanged glances. She froze, watching him as he passed by but she noticed something. Remington wasn’t with them. She had forgotten that Arlo had assigned Remington to watch Ack most of the day. The only time he wasn’t watching him was when Arlo was working out. Kate looked over at her sister who seemed a little upset.

Kate placed her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Why don’t you take tomorrow off and hang out with Remington,’ she said to Juliet

“You know Arlo assigned him to watch Ack,” Juliet told her. “Besides, we’re just friends. He wouldn’t want to hang out with me,”

“Hey, I’m friends with Arlo and we hung out to train way before the Lustkiss incident. Besides, it’s like you said, I needed an escape from the chaos and so don’t you.” Kate corrected her sister.

Juliet let out a big sigh. “It’s too busy right now for me to go running off,” Juliet explained.

“Stop making excuses for yourself. We have plenty of time and you know it. You deserve to take some time off and to be happy too you know,” Kate told Juliet.

“Alright, I’ll walk up to the Civil Corps later and ask, but only to get you off my back about it,” Juliet replied, smiling at her sister.

They continued on their way to see McDonald. He was outside as usual tending to his stand. He was happy to see the two girls approach. “Builders! Just the two girls I wanted to see!” He said excitedly. “I have a favor to ask of you,”

“What can we do for you, McDonald?” Juliet asked, though she already knew. Kate was surprised he didn’t seem to notice she had all the materials ready to repair his stable.

“Ya see, being the Entrepreneur that I am, I was running a rental service for my Horses for riding but a month before you two came into town, a storm blew through here and damaged my stable. That Higgins won’t touch it since it’s too small of a job for his ego.”

“I’m sure that's the only thing too small for him,” Kate mumbled jokingly. Juliet jabbed her sister on the side.

“Can ya’ give me a hand and repair it?” McDonald asked.

“We sure can. You’re in luck. We happen to have all the materials needed to repair that stable right now,” Kate told him.

“Great! It’s the stable over in the corner there.” McDonald said pointing over their shoulder to a run-down looking stable down by the road.”Just come find me when you are done.”

The girls nodded and made their way down to the stable. Juliet took the hardwood planks and replaced any broken boards. She also renailed any loose boards that were barely hanging on. Kate took the iron bars to repair the damaged railing which wasn’t too bad and just needed a patch here and there. They both finished roughly around the same time. They were quite pleased with how the stable looked after the repairs. McDonald was pleased as well.

“Look almost as good as new! Great job girls. I can open my rental service again! I appreciate it.” McDonald told the girls as he approached them with two calves.” Please, take these two calves as a token of my appreciation,” 

“Uh...We don’t have the room for two calves Mr. McDonald…” Juliet said as he handed her the rope to one of the calves. She looked at it in disgust.

As he tried to hand the other to Kate, she pushed the rope back into his hands. “How about you keep them here for us? she asked. “ Just until we have the room and a shelter for them…we’ll come by everyday and feed them. I’ll even pay for feed and board.”

“Well, seeing you girls helped me out with the stable, you can leave them here free of charge just as long as you come by to see them when you can,” McDonald told them.

“Alright, we can manage that,” Kate told him as she patted one of the calves on the head.

One job down, two more to go. The next job was to repair the Game Room power box at the Round Table. Kate remembered seeing the Game Room was closed yesterday when she and Arlo stopped by for a meal. It was almost noon so it meant Django was most likely inside, getting ready for the lunch rush. As they walked into the restaurant, Django took notice of them right away.

“Young ones! I’m so glad to see you two!” Django said excitedly.

“What’s up Django?” Kate asked.

“I’ve got a problem with our Game Room. The electric box outside seemed to have gone kaput. Ya’ think you two can fix it?” he asked them.

“Sure Django, we can take a look at it,” Juliet told him.

“I’m sure it just blew a fuse. We’ll have it fixed in a jiffy.” Kate told him.

Outside, they could see the box had a blown fuse of two but thankfully Juliet was able to grab all the parts needed to fix it. As Kate said, they had it done in a jiffy. Django was pleased. 

“Tis’ the season to be jolly, hohoho!” Django said cheerfully.

“It’s the middle of summer, not winter,” Kate thought to herself. “Do they even celebrate Christmas here? 

“Thank you for fixing the electric box, Now my Game Room can keep runnin’ again,” he told them.

“I doubt they even know what Christmas is,” Juliet replied

“No problem Django, well we better be going. We still have other business to attend to in town.”

“WAIT! You can hear me?” Kate asked Juliet.

“Not going to stop for lunch? You’re gonna love today’s special!” Django chuckled.

“Oh, wow, I can...I didn’t even know we weren’t talking” Juliet replied.

“No, we’re still full from breakfast. Maybe another time, but thanks,” Kate replied to Django.

Kate and Juliet made their way outside and pulled themselves aside under the tunnel to the park, checking for anyone who might hear them. 

“How can we hear each other’s thoughts so easily?” Kate asked.

“I’m not sure. Dad never mentioned anything about telepathy to me, that was more of your thing. Maybe it's something you're doing?” Juliet asked.

“No, you’d have to open your third eye to communicate back to me,” Kate explained. She started to push the loose hair from Juliet’s forehead. “You don’t even have a...oh my” Kate stopped. Behind all, that hair was a red mark on her forehead just like Kate’s. It must have formed recently because Kate could remember not seeing it in the last few days.

Juliet felt a sharp pain as her sister swept across her forehead.“Ouch, What is it?” Juliet asked as she pushed her sister's hand away.

“Sorry, It’s your third eye,” Kate replied “It’s still sensitive to touch but you must have just opened it.”

“How?” Juliet asked, rubbing her temples.

“You’re a little more, open-minded these days, that may have contributed to it,” Kate explained. “Come on, let’s go see Mei and we’ll deal with this later.”

“Alright,” Juliet agreed, there was no time to deal with this yet.

The girls made their way over to the Portia Times which thankfully not too far away from them. It was their first time there. They had no business with the newspaper until now. Mei noticed the girls entering, excited to see them. 

“Hey there Builder-welder, have you visited our Portia Times office before? It doesn't look like much, right?” Mei asked. “That's because we're underfunded. HQ is completely ignoring us as they don't think it's even worth having a newspaper in Portia, because 'nothing ever happens there.' But, I'm gonna change that! “ Mei had determination in her eyes. “I have a plan to make the Portia Times one of the best in the Free Cities! And you're going to help me do it!”

“Us?” both girls chimed in.

“Yeah, the other Builders around here all found different excuses to avoid helping me, because they know we can't offer money. Higgins even straight up said 'get a budget first,' that jerk. So, you're my only hope!” Mei explained.

“We’ll help you, Mei. We’re not as cruel as the other builders.” Kate told her.

Mei was excited, she twirled around. “I knew you're the reliable type! Here's the thing, ever since I've been here, Erwa and I have been hand-copying all of our articles. That means we have less time out there gathering news! If you can make me something that can copy our articles faster, that'd be a great place to start!” she explained.

“We’ll go check with the Research Center. I’m sure they’ll have something in mind.” Juliet told her.

Over at the Research center, Petra was just as busy as ever. She was deep in her studies but was more than happy to see the girls. They explained to her Mei’s situation.

“Mei needs help hand-copying her articles? Sounds like she needs a Printing Press. Uhmm, that shouldn't be too hard, bring me five Data Discs and I'll get started.” Petra explained.

Juliet grabs for discs out of her bag and hands them to Petra. “Don’t worry, we’ve got what you need.” Kate felt like she just watched a drudge transaction happen. Petra got too excited whenever data discs came into play.

“That should be enough, I'll get started right away. I'll send you a word when I'm done!” Petra told them.

Juliet and Kate head out to Central Plaza so they could start making their way back home. Kate noticed Arlo making his rounds in the plaza and stopped in her tracks on the Research Center’s stoop. She didn't know what to do. Should she go see him? She wants to go see him but there is no need to do so. He noticed her standing there and gave her a subtle nod. Juliet noticed this.

“Why don’t you go over and say hi,” Juliet tells her.

“No, I think it’s best I don’t right now,” Kate tells her. “We should head home and finish that water system for the tree farm, plus we still have your third eye to discuss.”

“We can take care of all that later. Let’s take a break. You go talk to Arlo, and I’ll go talk to Remy, deal?” Juliet asked her.

Kate smiled at her sister and nodded. She knew there was no going up against her. Juliet walked off, heading up to the top of town as Kate stood there, staring at Arlo. She had a hard time making herself move. What would she say to him other than hello? She forced herself to take the first step off the Research Center’s stoop. Making her way over to him under the wishing tree.

“Good afternoon,” Arlo said as she approached him.

“Afternoon,” Kate greeted him back.

“Did you need something?” Arlo asked as they stared at each other.

“No, not really, I just wanted to say hi,” Kate explained.

“Oh, well then I’ll guess I’ll get back to my patrol then,” Arlo told her as he turned around to head up Main Street.

“Right,” Kate replied softly, blushing in embarrassment.

Arlo turned back around and looked at her. “Are you alright?” he asked.

Kate looked over at him again. “Not really...Can I walk with you...seeing we’re going the same way anyway?” she asked.

Arlo smiled, “Sure,” he told her. Arlo started making his way to Main Street as Kate joined him at his side. Arlo broke the silence between them. “Is something on your mind? Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

“Yes...but I just want to walk right now,” Kate replied.

“Does it have to do with where you come from?” Arlo asked.

“No,” Kate replied.

“Are you starting to regret our deal?” Arlo asked.

Kate turned to look at him. “No...I’m fine with our deal…if you’re gonna talk, please change the subject,” she told him.

Arlo grew silent for a moment, trying to think of something to talk about. “The Martial Arts Tournament is this weekend, are you and Juliet planning on entering?” he asked.

“Oh right...I forgot about that. I’m not sure.” Kate replied.

“Give it a thought. You’ve trained a lot this past season, plus it will be a fun time,” Arlo told her.

“I’ll consider it,” Kate told him.

The two of them fell silent again as they reached Peach Plaza. They stood in front of the fountain facing each other as they stared at each other awkwardly 

“Well, I guess this is where we split,” Arlo commented. “I really should be getting back to the Civil Corps building,”

“Right, I should be heading back to the workshop,” Kate told him.

“Are you sure you’re okay?’ Arlo asked her.

“Yeah, I’m feeling a bit better now,” Kate told him.

Arlo smiled. “If you change your mind and want to talk, you know where to find me,” he told her.

Kate smiled back. “Thanks, I’ll see you around then,”

“Later,” Arlo said, watching Kate turn around and start making her way out of the town. 

Juliet didn’t return home until much later. She was surprised to see Kate was home, thinking Arlo would be skin deep in her sister. Instead, she was hard at work finishing the water system for the Tree Farm. Juliet tried to get her to open up to her about what was going on but instead, Kate continued to bury herself into the work before going to bed later that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is okay with these slice of life chapters. They're only a small filler leading up to the next big event in Juliet and Kate's life in Portia. I've been taking a break from writing but it okay because I have a backlog of chapters. Just need to remember to post them when I'm not too busy playing Stardew Valley....hehehe.


	20. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate helps Albert with a personal matter when she runs into Arlo who's persistent she should enter the Martial Art Tournament but their conversation turns into plans for a night of last-minute companionship.

The next morning Kate forced herself to get up early and pushed herself through breakfast and out the door. She wanted to get as much as she could before the tournament, whether or not she participated. Most of the town was going to be going to it so there wouldn’t be much open. As soon as Juliet was ready to go, they headed for town.

As they reached the town, Kate could see Albert, slowly making her way into work. He seemed out of place. She was used to seeing him racing into work every morning. She split from her sister to make her way over to him

“Hey Albert, you okay?” Kate asked as she approached him.

Albert hadn’t noticed Kate walking over to him so he was startled when he heard her behind him. “Agh! Oh, it's just you... Look, I'm not feeling all that society today. To be honest, I'm in a pretty bad situation.” he told her.

“Is there anything I can do?” Kate asked.

Albert left out a big sigh, he wasn’t going to get her to leave him alone. “I just got back from a business trip to Sandrock. While I was there, I went to a cafe. It had great desert tea and cute waitresses. It was the perfect place for me! Until something terrible happened; I overheard one of the girls laughing about my outfit!” he explained. “This may come as a surprise to you, but I care a lot about my appearance. I tried to be humble about it, but after this, I feel pretty low.”

“That's terrible, I'm sorry you had to experience that,” Kate told him.

“Hey, I was wondering if you could maybe... see what other people around town think about my style?” Albert asked.

“I can do that. Do you want me to ask everyone in town?” Kate asked.

“No...that's not necessary. Anybody will do... two random people, off the top of my head, maybe Phyllis and Sonia?” Albert said nervously. 

“That’s not random at all…” Kate mumbled to herself.

Albert headed into his office as Kate walked over to Juliet who was waiting patiently for her in front of the Commerce Guild.

“What was that all about?” Juliet asked as Kate approached her.

“Seems like Albert overheard some girls in a nearby town called Sandrock were being mean to Albert, picking on his appearance. It’s put him in a bad mood.”

“Wow, three hundred years after a war almost wiped out their whole existence and humans are still so shallow,” Juliet commented.

“Yeah, the poor guy is so upset, he’s asked me to talk to Sonia and Phyllis to get their option on his appearance,” Kate explained. 

“Aren’t those the girls we see him hanging out within the evening,” Juliet asked.

Kate chuckled. “You noticed that too.”

Juliet let out a sigh. “Alright, you better get going then, just get back to the workshop before I leave to go hang out with Remington this evening,” she told Kate, shooing her away like a lost puppy.

Thankfully for Kate, Sonia wasn’t too far away. She was still outside, tending to the stall outside of the restaurant. It was a quick place for people in town to get a quick refreshment. Perfect for those summer days.

As Kate approached Sonia, she called out to her. “Hey, Sonia, do you have a minute?” she asked.

“Well, hello there Kate. What can I do for you?” Sonia replied as Kate stopped in front of her.

“I was wondering, do you have an option on Albert’s appearance, asking for a friend…” Kate asked her.

“Girl, you came to the right place. I love a bit of gossip in the morning. Albert's not a bad-looking guy by any means, but he lacks the elegance of a man like Django. A&G Construction seems like a successful business, so I don't know why Albert dresses so normally. He should flaunt his wealth a little more.” Sonia explained.

“I suppose…” Kate said, pondering on Sonia’s response. “Well, thank you for your time,” she said as she waved Sonia goodbye and started making her way up to the Clinic.

Kate was getting tired of going up this hill. I mean, she could use the Dee-Dee system Juliet and she worked so hard on but she kinda agreed with Arlo when they talked about them during one of their training sessions, he’d rather take a horse over a piece of metal any day of the week.

Inside the clinic, Phyllis was still hard at work. Even though the pollution was gone and cleared out of the water system, Phyllis continued her work on antitoxins and antivenom research. 

“Good morning Phyllis,” Kate said as she made her way over to Phyllis.

Phyllis turned around to look at Kate. “Good morning Kate, what brings you by so early? Not feeling well?” she asked.

“Oh no, I’m feeling well. I just have a question to ask,” Kate replied.

“Oh? What’s that?” Phyllis inquired.

“I was wondering if you could tell me what you thought of Albert’s appearance. A friend of mine was wondering.” Kate asked.

“You want to know what I think of Albert’s appearance?” she giggled. “Sure, I don’t mind a bit of gossip. Albert seems to keep himself well-groomed, but his fashion isn't for me. It's a little too 'frontier'. You either go rugged like Arlo or classy like Gust. Guys like Albert are playing it too safe.” she explained. 

Kate’s cheeks blushed at the mention of Arlo. Phyllis was right, she was more of the rugged type. “Thanks, Phyllis...I should go have a chat with my friend…” she said as she started to walk away towards the exit.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Phyllis asked as she watched Kate walk to the door.

Kate turned around to smile at Phyllis, “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll catch you later,” she told Phyllis.

As Kate left out the door, Phyllis muttered to herself. “Strange, I wonder what got into her?”

Kate stepped outside to find Arlo walking out of the Civil Corps. As he walked around the Flying Pigs statue he noticed her in front of the Clinic and the light tint of rose color to her cheeks. “Morning,” he said as he slowly approached her. “You okay? You’re not sick are you?” he asked.

Kate smiled at him. “I’m fine, thank you for your concern though,” she explained.

Arlo reached out to feel her cheeks. Kate became brighter in the cheeks “Your cheeks are so red but you don’t seem to be running a fever, are you sure you’re okay?” he asked. 

Kate reached up to grab his hand away from her cheek. “I’m sure. I just need to take a breather and relax for a bit,” she told him.

“At least let me walk with you down to the plaza?” Arlo asked.

Kate let out a little sigh and shook her head. She knew he wasn’t going to stop worrying about her so easily. “Alright,” she replied.

They started making their way down the hill as Arlo started making small talk to break the silence. “Have you consider entering the tournament? Today is the last day to enter,” he asked.

Kate giggled. “Why do you want me to enter so badly?” she asked.

“I...just thought you would like to compete,” Arlo explained.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to enter, though Juliet and I are supposed to be keeping a low profile and are only supposed to fight if necessary,” Kate explained.

“Oh right,” Arlo said, feeling a bit ashamed for not thinking about the consequences.

As they came up to the fountain, they stopped and stood facing each other. “Well, this is my stop. I need to see Albert about something he asked me to do for him,” she explained.

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then?” Arlo asked.

Though Kate had planned to work in the workshop while Juliet was gone, the idea of spending the evening alone didn’t resonate well with her and she was growing tired of working so hard in the workshop day and night. “You know, Juliet is going to be gone this evening with Remington, if you’re not too busy, I could use some companionship tonight,” Kate said subtly.

Arlo was surprised to hear Kate ask but relieved at the same time. He had been worried she was reconsidering their agreement. “So that’s why he canceled tonight’s plans. Well...seeing I am free tonight and the Civil Corps building will be quiet, how about you come by around eight pm?” Arlo asked.

“Sounds like a plan,” Kate replied as she slowly turned away towards A and G Construction. Arlo smiled as he watched her walk away into the building. He wondered to himself whether or not he should prepare something for the occasion.

Inside A and G, Albert was pacing the floors nervously, waiting for Kate’s return. As Kate entered, he jumped up from the excitement and she could hear Gust sigh in relief and muttering something about finally getting some quiet so he can finish his work.

“You’re back! How did it go?” Albert asked 

“Well…” Kate started to say but she couldn’t quite get the words out without making it sound terrible.

“Neither of them are too impressed either, huh?” Albert said. “I guess that waitress in Sandrock was doing me a favor, in her own way. A charming bachelor like me can't walk around, not knowing what people think of him! That's like building a house on a poor foundation, and I know better than that, at least.” he explained.

“I suppose..”Kate replied.

“Thanks for running around for my sake, though. Here's a little something for your trouble.” Albert said as he held out a few gols to her. Kate took the gols, but didn’t expect him to give her anything in return; however, she was saving up for a horse stable so she didn’t say no to it. “Maybe I should go talk with Carol.,” he muttered to himself.

Kate left A and G, rushing home to the workshop so she could help Juliet work on the Tree Farm’s water system. Juliet was happy to see her sister walk into the yard, though she wished Kate had been home a little sooner.

“Did you have fun playing detective for Albert?” Juliet asked.

“Not really...I don’t see why what he wears is so important. He’s not a bad looking guy. A bit of a player but he’s not a horrible human being.” Kate explained.

“Who knows,” Juliet replied.

That afternoon, the two girls worked hard on the water system, finishing it before Juliet had to get ready for her evening out with Remington. They had decided because it was so late, they would install it tomorrow evening after the Tournament was over for the first day. As Juliet got ready, Kate prepared a container of Seafood Noodles.

“Who’s that for?” Juliet asked as she walked over to her sister to see what her sister was making.

“It’s for Arlo, I have plans to visit him tonight,” Kate explained.

“A visit huh? Would it have anything to do with the agreement you two made?” Juliet asked.

Kate’s face turned red. “Eh...maybe…” she replied.

Juliet giggled at her sister. “I’m only teasing you, you’re a grown woman, you’re free to do as you please,” she told her sister.

Juliet left early for her evening out, leaving Kate all alone for a bit. She decided that maybe she needed to wear something a little more loose than the uniform-like outfit she had been sporting every day. She decided the little black dress was more appropriate for tonight. Kate left a bit early, making her way towards an arena outside the Eastern Gate. She needed to sign up for tomorrow's tournament before it was too late. Thankfully the sign-up sheet was still there and she was able to sign up quickly before making her way into town. 

At the gate, Kate ran into Sam who was trying to calm her horse, Teddy down. He was starting to go wild and didn’t want to walk through the gate. Kate rushed over to them, grabbing the reins from Sam, and calmly hushed Teddy into calming down. Pulling him down to the ground and back on all four.

“Wow, thanks Kate,” Sam said, amazed at how quickly she got Teddy to relax. “Arlo mentioned you were good with horses but I thought he was just being nice,” she explained.

Kate giggled. “No problem Sam, he just seems to be a little spooked by this gate. It’s not uncommon for horses,” she explained.

Kate pulled the reins, leading Teddy through the gate and out of town. Sam followed watching as Kate would pet him every few inches, rewarding him for making it through without an issue. 

“That’s amazing, thanks Kate,” Sam said as she took the reins from Kate.

“No problem Sam, if you run into any other problems, let me know and I’ll see what I can do,”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” Sam replied. Sam couldn’t help but notice Kate was dressed differently. She was a little more dressed up. “What are you dressed up for? Have a big date tonight?” she asked.

Kate blushed a little. “Something like that…” she replied.

“Oh? Who's the lucky person?” Sam asked.

Kate refused to answer. Instead, she turned around and started to walk back into town, “Good evening Sam,”

Sam smiled before reply. “Alright, keep your secret, I’ll find out eventually,”.

Inside the Civil Corps, Kate found it to be a bit too quiet. She was half expecting Arlo to be working out still but instead, it was only Ack, sitting in the cell still waiting for his fate.

“Evening Ack,” Kate said as she made her way over to the jail cell.

Ack perked up in excitement. “Ms. Kate!” he called out to her. “I’m so glad to see you again, it’s so lonely here,” he explained.

“I’m sorry Ack, I should have come by and visited more,” Kate said as she reached into her bag and grabbed out a fresh bouquet of roses. “Here, these are for you,” she said, holding them out to him.

“Thank you!” Ack said as he grabbed the roses from her. “Are you here to see Arlo?” he asked.

“Yes, I am, have you seen him?” Kate asked.

“The last time I saw him, he went into his room...I haven’t seen him since.” Ack explained.

Kate sighed. “I hope he didn’t fall asleep, we made plans,” she explained. “Alright, thank you Ack, I’ll catch you later,” she said as she turned around to make her way over to Arlo’s room.

As she opened the door, she peeked in, fearing she’d find him passed out in bed. Instead, she found Arlo, half-naked, and combing his damp hair in front of his mirror. He had just gotten out of the shower and was wrapped in a towel at the waist. Kate was surprised to see him so clean and bare-skinned. This was the most she had seen Arlo without clothing on. She slowly stepped in. Arlo turned around when he heard the squeak of the door.

“I’m sorry...I hope I wasn’t interrupting you” Kate said, face turning red.

Arlo smiled at her and started to make his way over to her slowly. “Not at all, I was just getting myself ready,” he explained. 

“You...didn’t have to go out of your way and get yourself all gussied up for me,” Kate told him.

Arlo reached out to grab her as he approached her, leaning down into her neck, whispering in her ear. “Then why did you go out of your way to look nice for me?” he asked.

Chills ran down Kate’s spine. It was an oddly pleasant feeling. She melted into his arms as he trailed kisses down her neck, pressing his body up against her. Arlo noticed the zipper to her dress and slid his hand down to it. He slowly unzipped her dress, relieving her porcelain-like skin, pale and pink in color. As her dress fell past her knees, he could see a mark on her stomach. This had to be the seal she had talked about to him. He ran his fingers down the markings but all he could feel was the softness of her skin.

Kate turned around, placing her hands on the towel wrapped around Arlo’s waist as she looked up at him, slowly tugged at the edges, pulling it away from his skin and letting it drop to the ground. Arlo leaned into her, locking lips with her as he wrapped one hand around her back and the other clutching her hip. 

For something that was supposed to be casual sex, there was more passion between the two that neither of them noticed. They were trapped at the moment, enchanted by each other. They eventually made their way over to the bed and spent the next hour entangled in each other. Arlo explored every inch of her body like she was a ruin he had never been through, checking every crevasse for hidden treasures. Whenever she made a pleasant sound, Arlo knew he was heading in the right direction. The most rewarding part of it all was the fact he could finish deep inside her, leaving his seed without any consequences.

After sex, they laid there in Arlo’s bed, resting. Arlo was running his fingers down her body as she rested on his chest. He was fascinated by how soft her skin was. Velvet like a rose. Normally Arlo would find the silence unwelcoming between them, but that this moment, felt peaceful and relaxing. 

Kate broke the silence as she turned to look at him, sitting up but still resting up against him. “And here I thought all you Portians were prudes keeping yourselves pure for marriage,” she commented.

“And I thought gods were supposed to be saints, but here we are,” Arlo replied.

Kate laughed. “Not even the great creator himself is a saint. Hell, he makes all the other gods look sane,” she explained.

Arlo smiled at her as he reached to touch her face. They stared at each other as if there was nothing but the two of them. Kate crawled up on top of Arlo, leaning down into his face. “Again?” he asked.

“We still have time to kill,” Kate said deviously. 

Arlo went to roll her over onto her back but she pushed him back onto the bed. “It’s my time to be in control,” she whispered into his ear.

Arlo grinned as he watched her withdraw under the covers. He wouldn’t see her again until minutes later when she was ready to ride him until he burst. If he wasn’t exhausted from the first go, he was now. Between work, training, and sex, Arlo was spent. As they rested in his bed, he dozed off, falling asleep as Kate rested in his arms. 

Kate hadn’t realized Arlo had dozed off so when she spoke to him, she awoke him. “Arlo...I...think...I’m falling for you,” she told him.

For not hearing all of what she said, Arlo replied “uh...yeah?”

“I...I wish...I could give you the real relationship that you deserve. I’m sorry…” Kate tried to tell Arlo but he had already fallen asleep again.

After realizing he had fallen asleep, Kate got up and tiptoed over to her clothes to get dressed. Before leaving, she left him a note on his desk, letting him know she left a container of Seafood Noodles in the fridge for him and she was looking forward to warming up tomorrow before the tournament. 

At home, Kate flung herself into bed, exhausted. She had almost wished she had stayed there for the night but it would have been hard to explain in the morning when everyone would notice her coming out of the Civil Corps so early in the morning. Juliet hadn’t made it home by the time she fell asleep.


	21. The Martial Arts Tournament

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as things started to go well for Arlo and Kate, jealousy kicks in when Arlo spends time with Nora after promising to help Kate warm-up for the tournament. Will this ruin the chance of their relationship evolving into something more?

The morning approached quickly as Kate was awoken by Juliet who seemed quite chipper for someone who went to bed after Kate did. Kate drawled out of bed and made her way to the table where Juliet handed her a cup of coffee.

“For someone who went to bed before me, you look like shit,” Juliet told her.

Kate took a sip of her coffee before speaking. “Good morning to you too,” she replied.

“You were passed out when I got home last night, did everything go alright?” Juliet asked.

Kate blushed as she reminisced about last night. “Yeah…” she replied as she slowly took another sip of her coffee.

Juliet smiled as she watched her sister wander off into her mind. “I hate to ruin your daydream but we need to get going, finish your coffee,” she told her.

Kate chugged down her coffee and quickly rushed herself to get dressed. Juliet was ready at the door, holding out Kate’s bag as she rushed over to her. Flinging it over her shoulder, they made their way out the door and headed towards the big arena set up outside the Eastern Gate of town. 

Juliet and Kate were greeted by all three members of the Civil Corps. Kate could tell Arlo wanted to talk about last night but the fact that they were surrounded by friends and family made it an impossible time. Kate’s match wasn’t until much later but Sam’s, Arlo’s, and Remington’s matches were all set early in the morning so Juliet and Kate planned to cheer them on from the sidelines. 

When Remington and Sam finally walked a bit away from the group to warm up together, Arlo approached Kate. “Kate, you still want to warm up with me before the tournament?’ he asked.

Kate turned around to look at Arlo with a big smile on her face. “Of course, I see you got my note,” she replied.

Arlo smiled back at her. “Yeah...I’m sorry about falling asleep before you left. I feel bad, it seems like you had something you really wanted to talk about,” he explained.

Kate grabbed Arlo by the elbow, leading him away to an open area to train. “It’s fine, don’t worry too much about it, we should start warming up before your match.,” she told him, trying to change the subject.

“Right...but if you want, we can talk about whatever it was that you wanted to talk about after the tournament,” Arlo told her.

“It doesn’t matter now, the moment is gone. Come on, let's get to that warm-up.” Kate said as she held her palms up and out to him.

Arlo nodded, knowing that there wasn’t anything he could do to get her to open up to him, at least not right now in public like this. He enjoyed warming up with Kate. She was able to spot him quickly and point out his weak spots. It was helpful to have a different pair of eyes to help him improve his technique.

Finishing up their warm-up session, Arlo grabs for Kate’s shoulder, “Thanks for helping me find those holes in my combo. I don’t think I would have noticed that myself.” he told her as he gasps for air.

Kate grabbed for Arlo’s arm that was latched onto her and held onto him. “Not a problem, I just hope I didn’t push you too hard before your match,” she told him.

Arlo chuckled as he stood up straight and started to flex. “This was nothing, I could go for another round or two right now,” 

Kate laughed. “You said that last night too and yet you were passed out before ten,” she said jokingly. 

Arlo leaned into her ear and whispered to her, “Well then...maybe next time we should see who will last the longest.” he said with a sinister smile.

Kate’s face turned bright red as she pushed him away. “Isn’t your match about to start?” she asked.

Arlo looked at her with his bright smile on his face as he started to make his way to the arena. “You’re right, but don’t go too far. When I get back, it’s your time to get critiqued, Princess.”

Kate glared at him. She hated being called Princess. How dare he call her that. Unfortunately, he was too far away to shout at him without others overhearing their conversation.

As Arlo came back from his victorious win, Kate waited for him but he was stopped by Nora along the way. She had been waiting for him as well. “Arlo! Do you have a moment to talk?” Nora asked as she approached Arlo.

“Is it important? I promised Kate I’d help her warm-up before her match?” Arlo asked.

“I suppose it can wait, I just wanted to catch up with you seeing it's been a while since we hung out,” Nora explained.

“To be fair, you did stop showing up at the well after I declined your confession,” Arlo commented.

“Yeah...I just needed some time to heal but I really miss your friendship and hearing your stories. I thought maybe we could move past everything and go back to being friends.” Nora explained.,

Arlo hesitated to answer her. He really needed to get back to Kate and the others but he felt the guilt of having to reject Nora’s feelings. ”Alright, we can talk for a moment, but I really do need to get back to help Kate.” he told her.

Kate watched from afar, becoming jealous of Nora as Arlo walked over with her under the shade of the nearby forest. He spent the rest of the afternoon talking to Nora as Kate tried to prepare for her match alone. She was looking forward to Arlo helping her with her warm-up.

Noticing Kate is upset, Sam walks over to her, wrapping her arm around Kate. “Hey, kid, why the long face?” she asked.

Kate is startled by Sam’s embrace. “Sam! We’re the same age, stop calling me kid all the time,” she told her.

Sam giggled as she let go of Kate. “Haha...Alright, but what's bothering you? You look like you just bit into a lemon.” she asked.

“Arlo promised me he would help me warm up before my match and help critique my moves but instead he’s been talking to Nora since he finished his match,” Kate explained.

“Why don’t I help you warm up then?” Sam asked.

“I wanted Arlo to help me seeing he was already familiar with my training…” Kate started to say but Juliet and Remington had approached them and chimed in.

“Arlo must have forgotten, let Sam help you. Your match is coming up soon.” Juliet nagged.

“Plus Sam is a wonderful warm-up partner. Did you know she fought Arlo to a standstill?” Remington told Kate.

“Really?” Kate asked

Sam grinned before speaking. “Yup, that's how I made it into the Civil Corps,” she explained.

“Besides, he’s the one who’s going to feel like a dingus for missing out on warming up with you when he sees you win your match,” Juliet said, trying to cheer her sister up.

Sam giggled at Juliet’s remark before replying. “Don’t worry, Remy and I will make sure he’ll regret it,” she told them.

Kate agreed to let Sam help her warm up which ended up being an enjoyable experience. Sam was much like Kate herself, very tomboyish but kind and passionate. Remington was right as well, Sam was a wonderful warm-up partner. 

“Thanks, Sam, you’re the best,” Kate said as they finished up. “Maybe I should train with you instead of Arlo,”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Sam laughed.

Kate won her match which ended up being against Albert, though he tried his best, he was an amateur at fighting compared to her. As she made her way back, she was hoping to find Arlo back with the group but was disappointed when find he was still gone.

“He’s still with Nora, isn’t he?” Kate asked Juliet as she approached her sister.

Juliet frowned as she placed her hand on Kate’s back. “I’m afraid so,” she told her.

Remington and Sam noticed Juliet trying to comfort Kate as they made their way over to congratulate her on her win. “Hey, you did great out there!” Sam said as she swung her arm around Kate. “Please don’t tell me you're still upset because Arlo isn’t here?”

“I guess I am. He was the whole reason I entered the tournament in the first place. He kept pestering me to enter,” Kate explained as she pulled away from Sam.

“Oh, I didn’t know…” Sam said as she watched Kate walk over to the picnic blanket Juliet had set up and sat down. 

Remington made his way over to Kate and sat down next to her. “Arlo has known Nora a few seasons longer than he has known you. She’s been pursuing him for a while now, he just doesn’t see it. He’s not great at noticing when a pretty girl has an interest in him, even when it’s someone as great as you.” he explained. 

Kate blushed as Juliet and Sam both joined in with them. But she knew more than Remington did and he was wrong about Arlo and Nora, but she just couldn't fully explain it without exposing herself and Arlo so she instead chose to let it be.

Sam wrapped her arm around Kate. “I thought you said you didn’t want to be in any kind of relationship?” she asked as she grinned at Kate.

Kate’s cheeks got brighter. “It's complicated, I like Arlo but there’s something that's more beyond just me and Arlo that’s preventing us from being together,” she explained as she scrunched up into a ball and hinds her face. 

Sam looked at her confused. “What do you mean?” she asked.

Juliet placed her hand on Sam’s shoulder, stepping in for Kate “Maybe another time Sam. The conversation is getting a bit uncomfortable for her. She needs her space,” she explained.

Sam understood and backed down but it had her and Remington’s attention now. What was she talking about? What could be beyond them that would prevent Arlo and Kate from being together?

Juliet and Kate rushed home after saying goodbye to Sam and Remington. They had plans to install the water system for the Tree Farm as well as grab a commission from the guild before it closed at eight.

As Remington and Sam made their way back into the town, Arlo had finally caught up to them. Sam glared at him as he approached.

“What’s wrong?’ Arlo asked.

Sam slapped in the back of the head. “You’re a dingus. Kate waited for you to return so you could help her warm-up before her match but instead, you spent the whole afternoon with Nora,” she explained.

Arlo rubbed the back of his head. “Ow, sorry...I didn’t expect Nora to stop me,” he explained.

Remington continued up ahead as Arlo and Sam followed behind him, letting Sam deal with Arlo on her own. “Don’t apologize to me. You own it to Kate,” she explained.

“Fine...I’ll apologize to her now,” Arlo said as she started to walk towards the other side of town but Remington turned to stop him.

“You won’t be able to do that tonight. They’ve gone to the Tree Farm to install the new water system. They won’t be back until later this evening.” Remington explained. 

“Then I’ll just find her at the Tree Farm,” Arlo explained as he tried to make his way around Remington.

Remington stopped Arlo once again. “How about giving her some space first. Kate was really upset with you.”

Arlo glared at Remington before storming off to the Civil Corps. He was surprised to see Remington interfering. Normally it would be just Sam and Remington would be the one telling her to leave it be but this evening, they were both at him. 

Kate and Juliet worked hard at the Tree Farm, installing the water system. It was a great opportunity for Kate to forget about Arlo and the Tournament. Juliet watched her sister from afar, worried about her. After connecting the last sprinkler to the system. Kate and Juliet made their way over to the generator to activate the water wheel. Along the way, they took the time to speak to each other.

“Are you doing any better this evening?’ Juliet asked

“I’m fine…” Kate replied.

“I’m surprised Sam and Remington were so supportive of you,” Juliet told her.

“Yeah...They’re really good friends. I’m glad we got a chance to hang out with everyone today.” Kate replied.

“Yeah, me too,” Juliet commented.

As they reached the generator, Kate picked up her speed a bit and made her way over to the power button. Juliet felt the uneasiness of her sister. She could tell she was done with the conversation.

Back at the Tree Farm, Juliet and Kate met up with Dawa and Aadit who were celebrating as they watched the sprinklers. 

“This is amazing!” Dawa said as the girls approached them.

“Thank you for everything! Here's your commission fee. “ Aadit said as he handed Kate gols. His face blushed as he touched her hands. He turned to look at Juliet. “Now that we're back in business, if you ever need any wood supplies, you can check the box beside your home. We can afford some every day!” he explained.

The next day Kate headed out of the house as she prepared to make her way to the tournament. She found that Aadit had kept his promise, the resource box was indeed filled with resources from the Tree Farm. As she moved it to the storage boxes, she could hear Gust trying to make his way to the Tournament with his pet pig QQ.

“Ugh...QQ now isn’t the time, you’re going to make me late.” Gust said as Kate watched. QQ had stopped in the middle of the road.

“Is QQ okay?” Kate asked as she called over to Gust.

“This stupid pig only knows how to sleep and eat, it's getting outrageously fat. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to make him exercise.” Gust explained.

“Kate made her way over to them. “I have some free time evening after the tournament, I could take him on a walk for you.” Kate offered.

Alright then,” Gust replied. He held out a stick with a wooden apple on top of it. ”Here, take this. He'll follow you anywhere as long as you’re holding it.”

Kate grabbed the stick. “Alright, I’ll give it my best,” she replied.

“Just make sure you get it back to me by the end of the day,” Gust told her as he walked away.

Kate patted QQ on the head, waking him from his nap. “Come on boy, you can take a nap in the workshop while we’re away.”

QQ snorted joyfully as he got up. They made their way into the workshop where QQ found a plush bit of grass and laid down. Kate finished moving the materials out of the box. Juliet made her way out of the house. She looked at QQ and then Kate, asking why he was hanging out in the Workshop. Kate explained to her sister about the situation and Juliet just rolled her eyes.

At the arena, Sam and Remington were waiting for Kate and Juliet to show up. Sam waved them down when she noticed them making their way over. “Are you ready for the semi-finals?!” she yelled.

Kate smiled at Sam as they approached. “You bet, I can’t wait to see who I’m fighting up against,” she replied.

Remington cleared his throat. He had already seen the roster for today’s matches and knew who she was going to face. “Well, I hope you brought your A-game because I’m not letting you win without putting up a good fight,” he told her.

Kate turned to look at Remington. With a big smile on her face, she replied to him. “You better believe it!” 

“Where’s Arlo?” Juliet asked as she noticed he wasn’t around.

“He...was stopped by Nora again as we made our way down here,” Sam explained.

Kate’s pleasant mood was soured when she heard Sam’s reply. She walked away, finding a spot to get herself ready. Sam followed behind her.

“Hey Kate, can you help warm-up for my semi-finals?” Sam asked.

Kate turned around to look at Sam. “Sure, who did you get matched up with?” Kate asked.

“Well...I got Arlo and from what I’ve been told, you’re pretty good at evading his punches. Mind giving me a few pointers?” Sam asked.

“Course, just let me set up and we can practice together,” Kate replied.

Juliet and Remington sat watching Sam and Kate prepare for the tournament, speaking with each other as they watched. 

“Shouldn’t you be warming up too?” Juliet asked.

“I’m not too worried. I only do this for fun. I’m not too worried about winning,” Remington replied.

“Still, it would be a good idea. You did promise my sister a good match.” Juliet reminded him.

Remington laughed. “Haha..alright, our match isn’t until a half-hour after Sam and Arlo’s, I’ll warm up then,” he told her.

Kate and Sam finished up their practice thirty minutes before Sam and Arlo’s match. Kate turned to her, impressed by Sam’s skill. “You’re talented Sam,” she told her.

“Thanks, Kate, you’re pretty talented too,” Sam replied as she patted Kate on the back.

“Just remember, Arlo has a slower reaction time when he tries to attack. If you can time it right, you should be able to get the upper hand on him.” Kate explained.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let it end in a standstill this time.” Same told her cheerfully.

As Sam made her way to the mat, Kate, Juliet, and Remington all cheered her on from the sidelines. Kate was nervous, she wasn’t sure Sam had it in her to beat Arlo. Even Kate struggled to keep up with him. 

Arlo approached Sam on the mat, ready to face her. She could tell he hadn’t been practicing today which seemed a bit out of place for him. Had he let Nora distract him this whole time that he wouldn’t prepare himself for their match or was he just that confidant in his skill? 

Arlo looked around to see if he could find Kate within the crowd but he became disappointed when he realized that she wasn’t cheering him on, but Sam instead. He had been a terrible friend to her. He had asked her to enter the tournament and promised to warm up with her, yet he let himself get distracted by Nora, telling her all about his training with Kate and their adventure in the ruin. He hadn’t apologized to her either.

Distracted by his stupidity, Arlo lost his match against Sam. He was happy for his fellow officer. He could tell she had worked so hard for this moment. As he walked away from the stage Nora rushed over to him.

“You did great out there!” Nora told Arlo as he walked off the mat.

“Thanks, Nora. I’ll catch you later. I need to go check in with my fellow Civil Corps officers,” Arlo told her as he walked past her.

Nora looked at him confusingly. She wasn’t sure what had gotten into him all of the sudden. Was he that upset about losing to Sam? “Oh, okay…” she replied.

Arlo made his way over to Kate, who was celebrating with Sam over her victory. As he got closer, a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away. “Just the guy I was looking for. Mind helping me warm-up before my match? Sam is busy helping Kate,” Remington said. 

Arlo turned around to look at Remington who was smiling at him, waiting for him to answer. “Sure,” Arlo replied.

As Arlo sparred with Remington, they began to make small talk. “Your head isn’t in it today, wanna talk about?’ Remington asked.

Arlo made a swing at Remington. “No, not really,” he replied.

Remington dodged Arlo’s punch. “Keeping it in isn’t doing you any good,” he told Arlo.

“I was planning on talking to Kate but every time I try, you seem to get in the way,” Arlo said as he went for another swing.

Remington grabbed Arlo’s punch mid-swing, catching him off guard. “I’m preventing you from making a fool of yourself,” he told him.

Arlo pulled his fist out of Remington's hand. “Then what would you have me do?” he asked.

Just then, the call for the contestants to approach the mat. Kate started to make her way there. Remington looked at Arlo, placing his hand on his shoulder. “Just wait,” he told him. Remington turned around and made his way to the mat as well. 

As they approached each other on the mat, both Remington and Kate could hear their friends cheering them on but the one that stood out the most to Kate was Arlo, cheering her on from the sidelines. He was shouting the loudest as he cheered for her. His cheers gave her determination. 

Remington indeed gave Kate a good match but he wasn’t able to keep up with her speed with his bad knee. She won the match in the end, moving her to the Finals against Sam. As she made her way off the mat and back to the group, she could see Arlo, standing there watching her. She walked over to him even though she was still upset with him.

Arlo made the incentive to speak first as she approached him. ”I’m sorry...I broke my promise to you. I should have been here helping you warm up for your matches instead of chatting with Nora. You deserved better from me,” he told her.

Kate threw herself into his chest for a hug. Arlo was thrown off guard, not expecting her to display such affection in public like this. “I forgive you...but I’m still upset at the fact that you ran off to spend time with Nora instead of helping me warm up,” she told him.

Arlo wrapped one arm around her and patted her on the back. “I understand, you have every right to be,” he told her.

Remington, Sam, and Juliet watched from afar, smiling at the two. Remington cleared his throat “How about I help you get ready for the Finals Sam,” he asked as he tried to usher them both away.

Kate finally broke away from Arlo, looking up at him. “You know I still have to get ready for the Finals. You could help me prepare to go against Sam,” she told him.

Arlo smiled as he looked down at her. “I’d be happy to,” he told her.

Helping Kate prepare for her match against Sam, Arlo couldn’t help but smile the whole time. It had been a while since he trained with her like this. She hadn’t stopped by to train with him since they shared the Lustkiss fruit. He missed it. Doing the things he loved with her made it feel even more special.

As he watched her make her way to the mat, Remington joined him, standing there as they watched together. “Do you have feelings for her?’ he asked.

“I...think so,” Arlo replied. 

“Then why haven’t you told her yet?” Remington asked.

“It’s not that easy, it’s more complicated than I can explain,” Arlo explained.

“You both say that, but it seems like you two have something special,” Remington told him.

Arlo didn’t reply to him. Instead, he chose to start cheering on Kate as the match was about to begin. 

The match against Sam was a lot harder than Kate expected but she had the speed and knowledge to win. From sparring with Sam, she knew when Sam’s defenses were down. Kate won the finals, making her the champion of this year's tournament. As the crowd cheered for her, Sam and she made their way to the group. 

“That was a great fight. You deserve this win” Sam said as she wrapped her around Kate. 

“Thanks, Sam, you didn’t disappoint,” Kate replied.

Arlo wrapped his arm around Kate as she approached him. “You did great out there, I’m proud of you,” he told her.

Kate wanted to thank him for his help but she was bombarded by her sister who ran up to her, giving her a big hug. Remington patted her on the shoulder, congratulating her on the win. 

Kate could tell Arlo had more he wanted to say to her but the fact that she was being congratulated and praised was getting in the way. She also had things to do like walk QQ and start Mei’s printing press. Arlo didn’t get a chance to speak with her either. Kate left before he could find her again amidst the crowd with Juliet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to divide my story up into two books. The first book will end with about 30 Chapters and the Second Book will start with a small timeline jump of a few weeks to a month. I'm doing this because I felt like two different Story Arch were going on. The first one being Arlo and Kate's relationship and the second being the My Time at Portia Story. The second book will also dive more into Kate discovering who she is and why Juliet and she were really brought to Poria.


	22. Road To Sandrock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate is quested to help Gust's pet pig QQ to exercise while a new project is announced to build a road between Portia and Sandrock, a neighboring town in the desert. An unexpected invitation to dinner from Arlo has Kate questioning her feelings for him.

Juliet started the work on the Printing Press as soon as both the girls got home., Kate awoke QQ who was still napping in the grass. He wasn’t too happy with her for waking him up as she waved the apple stick in his face to get him up for the walk. She struggled through most of the walk, trying to get him to focus on her but she finally found a pace he could stick with. She took him through town from one side of town to the other. As she reached the Gate, she was met by Gust and Ginger who were making their nightly walk down to the river. 

“I can't believe you came up with a solution, bravo,” Gust said as he and Ginger approached her.

“You didn't think all I knew was how to build, right?” Kate asked as she joined them on their walk. 

Ginger giggled as Gust replied. “Maybe not…”

“Do you speak like this to everyone?” Kate asked.

“Oh yeah, I'm a straight shooter,” Gust replied.

“Okay, then let me shoot one at you. You don't seem like someone that would raise a pig.” Kate told him.

“This pig was given to me by my master, Vera. She said that I was too boring and raising a pet might help me 'expand my horizons.' I still get a feeling this was just a prank to her.” Gust explained.

“Seems like you respect your master,” Kate commented.

“Master Vera is a superbly talented academic at the Vincent Design Institute. The deconstructive architecture design she champions is never rigid, she's always boldly using space and shapes in imaginative ways. I admire her very much, but I want to surpass her, and become a master in my own right one day!” Gust explained to her.

“Was she the reason you became involved in architectural design?” Kate asked.

“I once read an ancient book called 'People and Structures of the Times'. It states that people can't escape the natural laws of life and death, but buildings can live long into history.” Gust explained. “My dream is to design and build great buildings for future generations to remember. Whenever people see them, they'll think of the wisdom and sweat of the people in the current era. This is the eternal charm of architecture!”

Kate smiled. “I understand your desire to pursue your dreams. I have some of my own I’d like to pursue one day,” she replied.

“Thank you, You sure do know how to talk,” Gust told her.

Kate laughed. She still found Gust to be an old stick in the mud but she now had more of an understanding of him. After saying her goodbyes, she departed, making her way back home to the Workshop. 

The next morning as Kate made her way out of the house, she found Gust waiting for her with QQ.

As Gust watched Kate make her way over to him he asked, “Why don't you take QQ for some exercise today as well?”

“I guess I have some time this morning, is that all you came over here for?” Kate asked

Gust blushed as he handed her the Apple Stick. “Yes...just make sure you get this back to me,” he told her.

Gust quickly turned around and made his way to his shop. Leaving Kate with QQ. She wasn’t sure what had gotten into Gust. Seems like she’s become a pet sitter to him. Kate enjoyed her walk with QQ. They took the same path as they did yesterday and back to A and G construction. Where she returned QQ and the Apple stick to Gust who seemed to be somewhat impressed with her once more.

Kate left, making her way back to the Workshop where Juliet was waiting for her outside at the printing press. Kate stopped at the mailbox to check for any letters.

“Where did you run off to?” Juliet asked.

“Gust stopped by again, asking me to walk QQ again so I took him on a quick stroll through town,” Kate explained.

“Alright, well, let's get this printing press to Mei. We’ve still got that crane to make Albert ask for the construction of the Museum.” Juliet explained.

Kate let out a sigh as she skimmed through some of the letters, “Seems like we have a fireside to attend as well.” 

“Road to Sandrock?” Juliet asked.

“Seems like it. Well, at least that means Ack will be set free tomorrow night. I feel bad, I made a promise to visit him more while he was up at the Civil Corps but I’ve been so busy these past days,” Kate explained.

“You’ll make it up to him. Once Ack is free, we’ll see him every day.” Juliet said, trying to cheer her sister up. “Now come on, let's get this printing press to Mei.”

Juliet and Kate dropped the Printing Press to the Portia Times where Mei thanked them and promised as soon as the newspaper started making more money, she would pay them back.

On their way back home, Kate and Juliet stopped at the clinic to pick up some ointment for future ruin dives. There, they stumbled in on Dr. Xu who was giving Antoine a check-up. Kate tried not to laugh because the whole time Antione was trying to flirt with Dr. Xu but he wasn’t picking up on it.

As Antione made his way out the door, he noticed the girls standing at the door. “Oh, hey there, I hope I didn’t keep you long?’ Dr. Xu said as he walked over to them. 

“Not to be nosey, but Is there something wrong with Antione?’ Kate asked

“It’s Strange, he should have recovered after taking the medicine I prescribed him. I’m not sure why he’s still sick?”

“Maybe it’s something else?” Juliet asked.

“Yeah, it could be some new disease. I need to keep track of it.” Dr. Xu replied.

“Could his condition be related to his mood?” Kate asked

“Mood? I'm not too sure about that...wish I had more time with my master in Seesai. But I was young and foolish, so I left when I thought I already learned everything there's to learn.” Dr. Xu explained. 

Juliet laughed as she looked at her sister. “Sounds familiar to someone I know personally.” she chuckled.

“Oh girls while you are here, I have a favor to ask of you. In the next few days, my teacher will send over some medical books and articles by ship. Can you ask Wuwa about it for me? Let me know when the package's here.” Dr. Xu asked.

“Sure, we don’t have anything else better to do,” Kate replied.

On their way back from the harbor from asking Wuwa about Dr. Xu’s books, Kate and Juliet ran into Oaks. He was making his way back from church and seemed a little upset by something. 

“Kate! Juliet! Papa Bear is acting weird...can you come to take a look?” Oaks said nervously.

Juliet and Kate looked at each other before answering him. “Sure Oaks, I’m not sure what we can do, but we’ll try to help.”

“Thank you, Kate, come this way,” Oaks said as he waved to them to follow.

In the forest outside of Papa Bear’s house, they found him under the shade of a tree. He was panting heavily from the summer heat. He grumbled as they approached him. 

“He said he’s too hot. All this fur makes it hard for him to cool down,” Oaks explained to them.

“I see, and he doesn’t want to take that heavy housecoat off either?” Kate asked.

“And run around naked?” Oak asked.

Kate chuckled. “Alright, try Mars. Maybe he has some kind of dad gadget,” she told Oak.

Kate and Juliet started making their way back into town where they were stopped by Phyllis who wanted to chat with them for a moment.

“Hey girls, I'm just wondering, have you two gotten used to Portia yet? It’s different from Barnarock, isn’t it?” Phyllis asked.

“Different how?” Juliet asked.

“I always miss the cool breeze back in my hometown during the summer. Portia is always extra muggy during the day. Wish we had a…” Phyllis started to say as she started to think deeply. “That’s it! We need a fan here in the clinic! Kate, Juliet, since you’re here, could you please find me one?”

“Alright, I’ll check the ruins tonight after the fireside,” Kate replied.

Dropping by Mars’ shop. He gave the girls a blueprint for a new fan hat he had just got. He believed this could help Papa Bear with his overheating problem. On their way through town, Kate stopped at Alice's Floral shop and picked up a bouquet of Roses.

“Another bouquet of Roses? Meeting someone new again?’ Alice asked.

“Yup,” Kate replied with a smile as she walked away.

At the fireside, The Mayor announced that the city-state of Sandrock and Portia have agreed to build a road through the Eufaula Desert between the two cities. This will cut travel time by over half. The governments of both cities will fund this road together. This has always been one of the plans of the Mayor’s grand plan to make Portia a center for commerce and travel in the Free Cities. He then introduced Mint, an Engineer from Vega 5 who’ll be in charge of the project and bring together the Builders of Portia and Sandrock onto the project.

At the end of the fireside, Kate approached Mint with the roses. “Welcome to Portia Mr. Mint, I look forward to working with you on the Sandrock Project,” she said as she held out the roses.

“Oh, thank you, but you don’t have to be so formal, Mint is just fine. You must be one of the builders I’ve heard so much.” 

“Name is Kate, and this is my sister and business partner Juliet,” Kate said as she pulled her sister over.

“Nice to meet you Mint,” Juliet replied.

“Nice to meet you both. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got to go get some sleep before tomorrow.” Mint said as he started to make his way to the Happy Apartments. 

As they started to head home, they were stopped by the Mayor. “Girls, I could use your help,” he said.

“What’s wrong Mr. Mayor?” Kate asked.

“It’s not anything to make a big deal out of but just that I ordered a new book for my daughter last month, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, the shipment won't arrive until much later. So I've been trying to find some other way to get her that new book,” he explained. “The Mysterious Man came back to town yesterday. He had this new novel, but he refused to sell it unless I had Panbat Mask to exchange for it. I don't have or know how to make the mask...but you do! Can you do me a favor and make a deal with the Salesman?” he asked.

“Sure Mr. Mayor, we’ll make a mask and give this Mysterious Salesman a visit in the morning,” Juliet replied. 

Juliet headed home while Kate spent the rest of the night in the Church ruin, trying to find Phyllis a fan. She managed to find one very late into the night so when she got home, she went straight to bed. Kate was just glad to get it out of the way so she could deal with more pressing matters.

Kate forced herself out of bed, getting herself ready for the day. Juliet had no trouble getting up because she had already been in bed sleeping by the time Kate got home. Her usual cup of coffee barely helped and she found herself struggling not to yawn as she refueled the furnaces. As she turned around to wait for Juliet at the gate she noticed Arlo, standing outside on the road, waiting for her to see him.

“Good morning Arlo,” Kate said as she approached him.

Arlo hesitated, staring at her before he spoke. He was trying to work up the courage to ask her to dinner tomorrow night without making it sound like a date. “Morning...I was wondering...tomorrow night, I’m free from work...would you care to...join me for dinner?” he asked.

Kate was experiencing mixed feelings. To her, it felt he was asking her on an official date, Half of her wanted to say yes and the other side wanted to say no. “Sure, I’d love to join you for dinner tomorrow.” she replied. 

Arlo was shocked. He wasn’t expecting her to say yes. “Eight o'clock...at Central Plaza okay?” he asked nervously. 

Kate smiled as she replied. “Sounds perfect.”

Arlo headed back towards town, looking back occasionally to see if she was still there as if he thought he had been dreaming.

Kate turned around to head back into the yard only to find Juliet standing behind her. Kate jumped, startled by her sister. “How long have you been here?” she asked.

“Long enough to know you and Arlo have plans for tomorrow night,” Juliet replied as she walked over to the mailbox to check it.

“Oh, you saw that,” Kate said nervously.

“Just the end,” Juliet replied. 

In town, Kate and Juliet run into Gust who yet again, asks Kate to walk QQ for him. Kate wasn’t really in the mood to nor had the time but she had already committed two days. Juliet and Kate both decided she would walk QQ after their meeting in the Mayor’s office. Higgins was his usually sour self but the girls managed to beat him to the commission board and the Mayor’s office before him.

“What's wrong Higgins? Slowing down in your old age?” Kate taunted Higgins as he entered the Mayor’s office

Higgins just grits his teeth as he makes his way into the room.

The Mayor, Mint, and Albert were standing around the Mayor’s desk, chatting about the project as they waited on the builders to make their way over. The Mayor was glad to see everyone had made it and began to explain the importance of this project and how it was the future boon in Portia’s economy. 

Gale introduced Mint who explained the project. He pauses for a second before speaking. Kate could tell he wasn’t too comfortable with big crowds. “Hey everyone. Let me give you an outline of our objectives for the Portia part of the project. Broadly speaking, there are two phases to this project. In phase one, we'll start the road from Sandrock as the terrain there is easier for construction. During that time, we'll need the Builders here to complete a bridge across the Portia River connecting to the desert.” Mint explained. “Once the bridge is complete, we'll move on to phase two, which is the construction of a rest stop along the southern banks of the Portia River.”

“We're going to call this new town South Block! Not too original, I know, but it'll be a place where all the travelers can rest and enjoy the view of Portia.” Mayor Gale explained.

“We're working with Albert and his A&G Construction to build the bridge and South Block. I'll be leaving for Sandrock in a couple of days, Albert will be in charge of the local plans after that.” Mint explained.

Albert clears his throat and steers right into it. “Right-o, I've pretty much worked with everyone in this room before, so I'd say this will go as smooth as a water troll's butt. As for the Builders, I'll post all the bridge commissions in the Commerce Guild starting tomorrow,” he explains. 

Higgins jumped in, grinning with confidence. “Why don't you just give me all the commissions. I can do it all,” he told Albert

Albert looked at Higgins with a concerned look. “I keep on tellin' you mate, there's more to life than just work... and that would be against guild rules anyways,” Albert explained.

Mayor Gale laughs at Higgins before dismissing everyone. Kate was glad the meeting was done. She had become bored and was now looking forward to walking QQ. He was waiting patiently outside for her. Squealing with excitement. Juliet headed off to the Clinic to drop Dr. Xu his Books and Bookshelf off as well as drop the fan off to Phyllis. Strolling down Main Street, Kate is stopped by Sam who was on her way to the Skywalk for her patrol.

“Hey, Kate, Why are you walking Gust’s pet pig?’ Sam asked.

“He asked me to walk QQ for him because he didn’t have the time. I offered to walk QQ one time and now I’ve been walking him every day for the last three days.” Kate explained.

“That jerk, taking advantage of your kindness like that! You just let me know and I’ll have a talk with him about walking his pet himself,” Sam said angrily. 

Kate laughed. “It’s okay Sam, I don’t mind it and I got to learn a lot more about Gust,” Kate explained.

“Alright, but anytime you need anything, you just let me know okay,” Sam asked.

“I’ll remember that,” Kate said as she smiled happily. It had been a long time since she had friends she could count on.

On her stroll through Central Plaza, she is stopped again by Remington who was on his Patrol as well. “Morning there Kate, why are you walking Gust pig?” he asks.

“Gust was too busy to walk QQ himself so he asked me to do it,” Kate explained, this time, shortening her story.

“That sounds like Gust. Well, at least QQ looks like he’s enjoying himself.” Remington commented.

Kate giggles before replying to Remington. “I’m sure he’s just trying to get the wooden apple on this stick. I don’t think he knows it isn’t real, but that’s okay, I have an Aroma Apple in my bag for him as a reward for later ” she explained.

Remington chuckled. “What a lucky pig. I wish I had someone like you looking out for me,” he told her.

Kate blushed. “Oh come one, I’m not that great, plus you have Arlo and Sam looking out for you. You three seem to have a pretty strong bond,” she explained.

“You’re right, we are pretty good at keeping each other in check from time to time,” Remington told her.

“Well, I’d love to stay and chat but I’ve got to get QQ back to Gust and catch up with my sister,” Kate explained.

“Alright, tell your sister I said hi when you see her,” Remington told her.

“I will see you later,” Kate said as she headed back towards Peach Plaza.

After dropping off QQ to Gust, Kate headed home to Juliet who was working hard on the commission from the guild. Though there was no work for the bridge until tomorrow, they still needed to maintain their simple jobs. 

“How was your walk?’ Juliet asked as she worked at the workbench.

“It was good. I ran into Sam and Remington, having a bit of a chat with both. They wanted to know why I was walking QQ. Remington says hi.” Kate explained.

“Did he? He didn’t say anything else did he?” Juliet asked.

“No, just that...why?” Kate asked. 

Juliet blushed. “No reason, just wondering,” she replied. 

“Is there something between you two I should be worried about?’ Kate asked. 

“No!...I...I forgot to mention, we got a letter from Emily. She wants to talk to us about making her a water system for her farm.” Juliet said, trying to change the subject.

“Alright, shall we head over there after we drop that commission off?” Kate asked.

“Yeah...sounds like a plan,” Juliet replied. 

The next day the girls started their day, as usual, They got up, ready for the day, and headed to the Guild for a Commission. On their way there, they ran into Ack in the Plaza. 

“Good morning Ack, it’s so good to see you out of that jail cell,” Kate said as the girls approached him.

“Good morning Ms. Kate, Ms. Juliet. It feels good to be out of that jail cell. Now I can move on and cook freely.” 

“Ack, you can drop the Prefixes, Kate and Juliet are just fine” Kate informed him.

“How is your food stand doing?” Juliet asked.

“Call me a donut, but I'm getting really popular around here. There are even tourists coming to Portia just to taste my cookin'! How about that!” Ack told them but he stopped and sighed. “But I do miss my dear Lara…”

“Who is Lara and what happened to her?” Kate asked.

“She was the love of my life…but I'm not sure! There must be something wrong with my memory chips. Oh no!” Ack said in a panic.

“Do you remember her looks? Maybe you can give me a drawing and I can make a replica model of Lara for you.” Kate asked.

“Holy lemonade, that's a great idea! Hang on.” Ack said as he pulled out a piece of paper and started to draw on it. “This is it!” he said as he handed the paper out to Kate.

Kate looked at it, trying to make sense of it. “That’...I’ll see what I can do…” she replied.

“Make sure you get her legs just right, I'm kind of picky!” Ack commented.

After picking up a commission, Juliet sent Kate off to Carol’s shop with some flexible fabric. It had been sitting in storage collecting dust and figured Carol might have some use for it.

“Good morning Carol,” Kate said as she strolled over to Carol.

“Good morning Kate, Here for your order?” Carol asked.

“Yeah, but I also have this flexible fabric Juliet and I have lying around in the workshop. We were wondering if you had use for it?” Kate asked as she held the fabric out to her.

Carol gave the fabric a good once over, “Hmmm...this is good fabric…” Carol said as she looked over at an outfit she had just made. She grabs it off the wall and holds it up to Kate. “I’ll take this fabric if you take this dress for exchange. You’re the perfect model for my clothes and it’ll be a great dress for a date with a certain Captain of the Civil Corps,” she commented.

“Arlo and I are just friends,” Kate said as she blushed.

“I’ve seen the way you two look at each other,” Carol explained.

Kate sighed. “I’ll take...but only because I want to get rid of this fabric and to drop the subject,” Kate explained.

Carol giggled as she packed up Kate’s order and the new dress. Kate headed home to Juliet with their order and the dress in hand. She wasn’t too pleased to have Carol trying to interfere with her love life now too. What was with this town? Full of busybodies and gossips. 

Kate made her way into the yard where Juliet was busy, working all the current commissions. Kate made her way over to the storage to put the order away, hoping Juliet wouldn’t notice the dress in the pile but it was too late because Juliet had just noticed her over at the storage and looked over at her.

“What did Carol convince you to buy now?” Juliet asked.

“I didn’t buy it, she traded the flexible fabric for it,” Kate explained.

“Alright, what is it? Another adventures’ outfit?” Juliet asked.

“No, it's a dress, Carol said it’s perfect for dates…” Kate explained.

“Oh, are you going to wear it tonight?” Juliet asked.

“No...I don’t know...I thought about it but I don’t want to give him the wrong idea,” Kate explained.

“That you’re in love with him?” Juliet asked. “Don’t deny it, I’ve been here watching you two from the sidelines.”

“Even if I am in love with him, we can’t be...if something happened to him because of our world...and I couldn’t save him...I wouldn’t be able to handle it..” Kate explained.

“You really do love him, don’t you?’ Juliet asked.

Kate walked over to the stone table and sat down, leaning against the table, and started rubbing the back of her neck. “I’ve never felt this close to someone before...it’s happened so fast...I wasn’t expecting it...I’m not sure what to do...I want to run away but I can’t and at the same time, I just want to run to him, tell him how I feel…” Kate explained.

“Then tell him! You two have plans tonight, right?” Juliet asked as she made her way over to her.

“Yeah, but now isn’t the time..” Kate told her.

Juliet threw her fist down on the table.“Why not?” she asked, getting frustrated with her sister.

Kate was shocked at how hot-headed her sister was getting over this. “Calm down Juliet,” she said as she tried to get her to settle down.

“I’ll calm down when you either end things with Arlo or start dating him,” Juliet explained.

Kate’s brow started to narrow as she glared at her sister. Angrily she stood up and made her way into the house where she didn’t leave until it was time for her playdate with Arlo.


	23. The Dinner Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arlo takes Kate out to dinner at the Round Table and a stroll to Amber Island to watch the sunset as he tried to get to know her better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've started revisiting old chapters of Book One again as we get closer to the final Chapters. My goal is to make Kate seem more Childish than she will be in Book Two {which is in full swing) where she begins to mature and takes her role a bit more seriously. I hope everyone is enjoying the story and if so let me know what has been your favorite part in the story so far down below in the comments!

As hard as she tried, Kate couldn’t make it to Central before Arlo. He was there, waiting for her. She was so used to seeing him in his Civil Corps Uniform that she was surprised to see him in a white button-up and a leather jacket. She didn’t see him wear it often. Arlo was full of smiles as she approached.

“You look lovely,” Arlo said as Kate approached, noticing her in the dress.

“You’re not too bad to look at yourself,” Kate replied as she blushed.

“Is that a new dress?” Arlo questioned.

“Yeah...Carol bartered with me for the fabric I was trying to clean out of the workshop to make room and gave me this in exchange. I figured seeing we were just going out for dinner that it was fine to wear it. It’s not too fancy is it?” Kate asked. 

“No...it looks fine...Shall we head over to the Round table then?” Arlo asked as he started walking towards Main Street, his cheek blushing.

“Sure,” Kate replied as she followed him.

As they sat in a booth at the Round Table across from each other, they looked through the menu. Arlo began to make small talk with Kate, hoping to get to know her better. “You know, the last time we came here, you asked me what kind of foods I like to eat, but I never learned what kind of foods you like.”

“Oh, The foods I like… I’m sure Django doesn’t even know how to make them,” Kate explained.

“Well, what is your favorite dish?” Arlo asked.

“Hmmm...it’s really hard to pick, I really like Pizza but I really like a good bowl of Ramen too....” Kate replied as thought about it.

Arlo laughed as he watched her deep in thought. “You’ll have to make both for us to enjoy one day together,” he told her.

Kate smiled. “I like that idea. It shouldn’t be too hard to get the ingredients to make them,” she explained. 

“Is there anything else you like?” Arlo asked

“I really like sweet pastries and desserts but I’m constantly watching how much sugar I consume because of how fast it causes me to energy crash after eating something sweet,” she explained. “Other than that, as long as it’s not too spicy, I’m not too picky, I’ll at least try something once.”

Arlo smiled at her as she spoke. “How about I order for us tonight and surprise you with something you might not have considered eating before,” Arlo told her.

“Alright,” Kate replied, still smiling.

Arlo ordered a few things he thought Kate might like with Sonia who couldn’t help but eye up the fact that the two were both nicely dressed and having dinner together. Kate was most positive that tomorrow Arlo and she would be the talk of the town but she didn’t care. As they waited for their meal, Kate began to ask Arlo questions of her own.

“You know, not being from around here, I’m really unfamiliar with the Civil Corps or what you do,” Kate explained.

“I've always thought of the Civil Corps as the only line of defense between the leftovers of the Old World and what little we have right now. It might sound dramatic, but a monster from the Peripheries can literally wipe us out. So we always have to put our lives on the line to make sure that doesn't happen.” Arlo explained. 

“That's very heroic and noble of you. In my world, before humans turned away from gods, my kind would shower someone like you in blessings of Luck and good fortune.” Kate commented.

“Do the people in your world not worship gods anymore?” Arlo asked.

“Some religions are still being practiced but it’s not like how it was thousands of years ago. Most of the world's population on my earth has given up on worshiping deities,” Kate explained.

As much as Arlo wanted to ask more, Sonia showed up with their meal, stopping him from talking anymore about her world. It made him realize that maybe this wasn’t the best place to be talking anyways. After dinner, Arlo and Kate took a stroll down to Amber Island where they could see the sun setting. They found a spot in the sand and sat down together, watching the sunset. It was quiet there with no one there to overhear them talk.

“What does it look like where you come from?’ Arlo asked.

“The world of the living or the Veil, where Juliet and I live in the Palace?” Kate asked.

“Both,” Arlo told her.

“Well, in the land of the living, there are billions of people inhabiting the earth. There are several races and religions. Some cities have a building that almost reaches the highest breathable point in the atmosphere. There are wars, pollution, and crime. The earth is slowly dying and there are constant threats of nuclear war that could end mankind.”

“So it’s like the world before the war here over 300 years ago...” Arlo told her

“Pretty much. My father used to tell me it’s the default by design, all worlds go through similar events but...there is some beauty to what the humans have created and there are places untouched by mankind that would even wow you” Kate explained.

Arlo chuckled before asking Kate another question. “And what of the palace?”

“The Veil is nothing more than a reflection of the living world. There are many layers of the Veil however and at the center of it all sits the Palace. Everything grey, lifeless, and still. The garden is the only life outside of the palace that blooms the most beautiful black and white roses. Death Roses or Wither Roses as some call them and Soul Roses or Moon Rose as my father liked to call them because they shine as bright as the moon. However, they can’t live outside the Veil, they wither away as they cross over. I tried once….” Kate explained.

“Is there someone there waiting for you when you get back home?” Arlo asked

“Not really. My Uncle War, he’s the eldest of the Four Horsemen. He lives in his own realm but he’s been there for me since he first taught me how to fight. I really only have Juliet left.” Kate explained.

“No boyfriends?” Arlo questioned as his cheeks blushed.

“In my world, no...I’ve had a few relationships before that I made while on adventures but nothing serious. I’ve always been the one to end them before things got too serious,” Kate explained.

Arlo looked deeply into her eyes. It was the first time he had gotten her to open up about her world and herself. He couldn’t understand why she would want to return to a place that sounded so horrible or why she thought she didn’t deserve happiness. He reached for her hand. He wanted to tell Kate that he was falling in love with her but the fact that she just explained what happens when someone gets too close stopped him. He knew if he told her now, he would lose her friendship. 

Kate looked back at Arlo. Her sister’s words still resonate in her head. She was trying to stop herself from telling him how she felt. Upset, she threw herself into his arms as she started to cry. 

Arlo was surprised but he wrapped his arms around Kate, holding her tightly. “What’s wrong?” 

“My sister and I had a bad fight before I left on our...date…” Kate explained.

“What were you two fighting about?” Arlo asked as he looked down at her.

Kate refused to answer him. Arlo knew by the fact that she wasn’t answering meant it wasn’t something she wanted to share with him. He thought they had finally gotten past keeping secrets from each other but then again he was keeping his feelings a secret from her. 

“Can we just lay here...together...for a while?’ Kate asked.

“Sure,” Arlo replied, smiling down at her before laying back as he pulling her down onto his chest.

They laid there under the beautiful night sky as Kate calmed down while Arlo ran his fingers through her hair. It felt like silk to the touch and her body was warm against his. It was almost like being a normal couple in a normal relationship right at the moment. Arlo didn’t want her to leave his side but he knew the date was almost over and they’d have to say goodnight. It was tempting to just tell her right there and then about how he felt but he refused to satisfy the urge.

Walking back into town, things were a bit quiet so Arlo started up a conversation, trying to lighten the mood. “Thank you for agreeing to join me tonight, I know it’s not the typical playdate we’re used to, but I enjoyed the time I got to spend with you today.”

“You’re welcome, I...enjoyed our time together as well. I'm sorry I ruined it at the end,” Kate commented nervously.

“There’s no need to apologize, you didn’t ruin it all. I’m just glad I can be there for you when you are upset, even when you don’t want to tell me what's wrong,” Arlo explained.

Kate blushed, embarrassed by the fact that she couldn’t tell him that he was the reason Juliet and she had been fighting. She knew it would probably be easier if she just admitted to him about her feelings so she could move on but emotionally she wasn’t ready to face it.

They parted at the wishing tree though Kate didn’t want to go home nor did she want to try convincing Arlo to let her stay with him for the night in fear she might tell him how she felt.

The next day neither Kate nor Juliet talked to each other as they worked in the workshop other than Juliet telling Kate to deliver the Crane for the museum as well as the bridge commissions to Albert. The evening was slow enough to where Kate snuck off into the second town ruin for iron ore and to clear her mind. 

The following Morning Kate opened the door to find Scraps at the gate, begging for her to let him in and for her to give him something to eat. It was her own fault for feeding him in passing all the time. He must have followed the scent of her here.

“I suppose you’ll want to move in next?” Kate asked as she reached into her bag for some bacon fish rolls. Kneeling down to feed him, she patted him on the head. “It’s okay, I could use a friend whenever the witch is angry at me,”

A letter came from Mei asking them to visit led the girls to Visit the Portia times once more. The walk there was still silent and neither Kate nor Juliet attempted to say a word to each other.

“Are you two ready for part two of my “Make Portia Times Number One” action plan?” Mei asked the two girls. “Erwa and I have been drawing all the illustrations by hand so far, but we're both terrible at art. I even received a letter once from Gust telling us to "stop drawing". That jerk...For the next part of my plan, we need a camera!”

“Alright, that shouldn’t be too hard…” Kate replied.

“Cameras are so very rare, they only have a few in use at our Atara office. You'll need to talk with the Research Center about how to make one.” Mei explained.

“That shouldn’t be too hard,” Juliet said as she headed towards the door.

The girls would soon learn that making a camera and getting one would be a lot harder than they thought.

“What do you want? A camera? I have one.” Merlin said as she looked at the girls.

“Well, we were looking to build one,” Kate explained. 

“We don't have the technology to build cameras, and working ones are exceedingly rare,” Merlin explained. 

“Well, are you willing to part with yours?” Juliet asked

“No, course not?” Merlin said.

“Pretty Please?” Kate begged.

“You know what, I just thought of something. I can give the camera to you, on one condition.” Merlin told Kate.

“What’s that?” Kate asked.

“Seeing you are the more sociable twin, we go on a social engagement,” Merlin explained.

“What?! You want to go on a date?” Kate asked.

“Yes, you take me on a date for my research and I’ll think about giving you the camera,” Merlin explained. 

“Let me think it over and I’ll get back to you…” Kate replied.

Kate left out the door, uneasy that someone wanted to date her for a social experiment. She made her way over to Carol’s to see if she could make Scraps a collar. For a few materials Kate happened to have on hand, Carol agreed to give it a try.

Juliet had headed home without Kate, most likely to work on commissions. She decided it was best she went home as well, at least for now. She tried her best to help her sister but Juliet was cold and didn’t seem to want her help. So Kate did the only thing she knew would make her feel better, she made up some Seafood Noodles and made her way up to the Civil Corps.

Arlo hadn't been there long when Kate showed up, he was getting ready for his workout before meeting with Sam and Remington at the Round Table at six. He wasn’t expecting her to show up and see she seemed to be upset still.

“Are you okay? I didn’t see you in town or at the workshop yesterday on my run,” Arlo asked as he walked over to her.

“I’m fine, just busy all day yesterday,” Kate explained as she met him halfway.

“What brings you by today? You’re not looking for companionship are you?” Arlo asked.

“No...I was just wondering if you wanted to train together and then maybe enjoy some seafood noodles with me?” Kate explained nervously.

Arlo smiled before responding to her. “I’ve only got a few hours to train before I met up with Sam and Remy but you’re always welcome to join me, however, I might have to pass on dinner...even though it is tempting,” he explained.

Kate smiled back at him. “That’s fine, I shouldn’t have shown up last minute like this. I can always eat it on my own later at home.”

“I’m glad you did show up. I was missing our time together,” Arlo explained.

“We just hung out and had dinner the other day,” Kate said as she giggled.

Arlo blushed and commented. “Well...yeah but it’s different when we train together…”

“What makes it different?” Kate questioned.

Arlo hesitated before answering her. “It..just is..you know, let’s just get started...then maybe you’ll understand…”

Kate agreed and together they made their way over to the training dummy to train together to get ready to workout. In a way, she knew what he meant, but somewhere deep down she was hoping he would confess to her his true feelings, hoping that somehow, he felt the same as her. They trained for a few hours before Arlo tapped out.

“You’re getting really strong, I can barely keep up with you,” Arlo said to her as he bent over trying to catch his breath.

Kate turned to look at him, grinning at him as she began to taunt him... “Come on, I thought you wanted to be some big shot adventurer, you can’t quit on me now!”

Arlo chuckled as he continued to catch his breath. “We shouldn’t let those noodles go to waste...why don’t you go grab them out of your bag and we can sit down to enjoy them together.” 

“What about Remy and Sam? Won’t you be late?” Kate asked.

“They’ll be fine if I show up later. You did go out of your way to make one of my favorite dishes for me, I can at least enjoy it with you.” Arlo explained. 

Kate walked over to her bag and reached into it for the container. “It’s probably cold by now.”

“You can reheat it with your magic, right?’ Arlo asked as he made his way over to her.

“I suppose...are you okay with me using magic?” Kate asked as she looked up at him with the container in hand.

“It’s a part of who you are right? It must be hard not being able to use it on a regular basis. There’s no one here but us right now so you should be alright,” Arlo explained.

Kate was hesitant to use her magic. Was this a trick? Taking the lid off and waving her hand over the food, steam started to rise from the food. Arlo watched in awe and smiled at her. Kate wasn’t used to this kind of attention. Usually, she was asked to hide her powers not to celebrate them. Arlo quickly left to get them some forks to eat with and she sat down on the couch to wait for him. 

Arlo was pleased to see she had found a spot to sit when he came back to the room. He sat down next to her and handed a fork over to her.“Hows things between you and Juliet?” he asked.

Kate took the fork and looked away from Arlo, “We haven’t really spoken to each other in a few days. There’s still a lot of hurt feelings between the two of us…”

“I’m sorry to hear that, she must have said something really horrible if you’re still hurt over it,” Arlo commented as he twirled his fork in the noodles before taking a bite of it.

Kate didn’t feel all too hungry at that moment as she stared off. Arlo noticed her gazing off and nudged her. Kate turned to look at him. He was holding his fork out to her with his hand under it, trying to get her to eat. Kate blushed as she took a bite. She wasn’t expecting him to try to feed her.

“Better?” Arlo asked.

Kate smiled and nodded at him. “Thank you,” she replied after swallowing the food in her mouth.

Arlo smiled back at her as he watched her take her fork and twirl more noodles for herself. They finished the container together enjoying every bite along the way. Kate’s cooking always puts a smile on his face but nothing beats sitting down with her to enjoy it. He was now in an even more pleasant mood. 

“You know, last night I was talking to Nora about my recent adventures…” Arlo started to tell Kate but she interrupted him before he could continue as she stood up quickly and grabbed her bag, swinging over her shoulder and making her way towards the door. She didn’t come here to hear about Nora. Kate was still bitter and mad at him for hanging out with Nora over her during the tournament.

“What’s wrong?” Arlo asked as he stood up.

Kate didn’t answer him and made it out the door before he could run after her. She disappeared into the night air as Arlo ran to the doorway and tried to look for her but she was nowhere in sight. Kate arrived home quickly, making her way into the house, and throwing herself onto her bed as she cried until she fell asleep. Juliet didn’t bother to ask her where she had been because she knew just from her sister's crying that she had been with Arlo.


End file.
